


The Happiest Place on Earth

by JamesSunderlandsPillow



Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Black Comedy, Creepy pasta - Freeform, Dialogue, F/F, Fluff, Macabre, Mild Language, Monsters, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Slow Burn, Some Humor, Survival Horror, Suspense, Takes place two years after series finale, Violence, Zombies, mild sexual themes, missing person, some grody stuff but nothing to warrant an M rating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-02-23 02:33:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13180533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamesSunderlandsPillow/pseuds/JamesSunderlandsPillow
Summary: Bonnie Rockwaller is missing. Kim needs Shego’s help to find her. Their search leads them to a desolate town with horrible secrets.Rated T for mild language, and some depictions of violence, sexuality, and disturbing imagery.I do not own Kim Possible.DISCLAIMER: This story has been put on indefinite hiatus. Sorry:(





	1. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE/DISCLAIMER: For anyone out there looking for some new Kigo fiction, you should know that this story is incomplete, and is likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. So, unless you just really like your Kigo and/or survival horror, you may want to move along. Thanks for stopping by anyway, though.

Bonnie Rockwaller.

Of all the people Kim Possible would come out of retirement to come rescue, it would be her.

Life had been good for the now twenty-year old since graduation. She decided to hang up her black boots and hair-dryer grappling gun not long after the ceremony, and it was a choice virtually all of her loved ones had approved of. After all, what was there left to accomplish with Team Possible?

Since then, life had been- well, normal. She and Ron enrolled into universities, her many adversaries either turned over new leaves or were facing life sentences, and her bosom even rounded out nicely as opposed to being what Bonnie would call “triangles.”

Yes, life had been almost perfect.

…

Then the call came in from Wade- the first “business call” in two and a half years. It was on the behalf of Dr. Betty Director of Global Justice, asking Kim to spearhead the newly opened investigation of Senator Rockwaller’s missing daughter.

Why? Because of the prime suspect was none other than Dr. Drew Lipsky.

It was widely accepted that the villain formerly known as Dr. Drakken had given up his plans for world domination since amicably saving the world. However, he seemingly disappeared around the same time as Bonnie, which led many to believe he was likely to blame.

And while Kim Possible wasn’t wholly convinced he should be held accountable, it was once her duty to bring justice where it was due. Whether he was their guy or not. If that meant saving her high school rival from perceived certain danger- so be it. She would find her.

She would find the truth.

…

The first step in doing so was to follow the only lead they had to her alleged kidnapper’s assumed location: a small town in northern West Virginia called Happy Valley.

Unfortunately, the higher-ups and so-called experts at Global Justice decided the best way to proceed would be with “great care and sensitivity.” Ergo, Kim now finds herself driving a beat up old Silverado through a road that runs upside a mountain, relying on the coordinates Wade gave her to get to Happy Valley as inconspicuously as possible.

The drizzly sky is grey, and all of the radio stations are emitting static. She can’t even get a signal on her phone.

…

“Ugh… Ron, do you have any bars?” she asks her dutiful sidekick from the driver’s seat with a hint of petulance.

In the passenger’s seat, he raises his tired head from his right hand, and uses his left to reach into his pocket. After a few seconds of vociferously feeling his way through the thing, he gives up.

“Rufus,” he says- summoning his pet naked mole rat.

The hairless rodent climbs out of his jacket pocket and lets out a yawn as he stretches. Then he looks up to his pet-parent with a little grin. “Huh?”

Ron softly smiles back at him. “Be a pal and check my other pocket, would ya?”

“Uh huh!” Rufus happily voices with a thumbs-up, and he does as he’s been instructed. He pops back out a moment later with Ron’s phone in tow, and hands it to him.

“Thanks, buddy,” Ron tells him, and he scurries back into his cozy little resting place.

…

Kim softly smiles at her ex-boyfriend from the corner of her eye as he animatedly checks his phone for a signal.

“Hmmm… Nothing, KP. Dang- we really need to get Wade to make MP3 compatible Kimmunicators,” he quips.

Kim just amusingly shakes her head. “Well, hopefully we won’t need these Kimmunicators again after this.”

Ron meets her with a playful eyebrow raise. “What? You mean to tell me you’re not even a _little_ excited to get Team Possible back in action?”

“I am! It’s just nicer not having to worry about impending doom and global destruction is all…”

“Yeah, yeah…”

…

He sweetly smiles at her in an inviting way like he used to, but she forces herself to avert his gaze. They decided that trying to maintain a romantic relationship between schools in Oregon and Connecticut would be far too demanding, and she intends to keep it that way.

At least- until she’s sure she _wants_ things to go back to the way they were before.

…

He picks up on her snub, and returns his attention to the outside window with a little surliness.

After a moment of silently focusing on the road, Kim decides to try and mollify the awkwardness.

“So… What do you really think is going on with Bonnie?” she asks him.

He takes a moment to consider his response. “Hmmm… I dunno. Part of me thinks she just ran off. I mean- she seems like the type,” he admits.

“Ran off?” Kim follows up.

“Yeah. You know? Like, found a new boy toy to get back at daddy or something. I dunno.”

“…So, you don’t think Drakken is involved?”

“Maybe he’s the boy toy,” Ron jokes with a smile.

“Uhm- okay, eww. Let’s pretend you never said that,” Kim responds, still focusing on the windshield.

…

“I’m just kidding!… But in all seriousness, I was never sold on Drakken becoming a good guy.”

“He saved the world, Ron.”

“So? I just don’t think people change, Kim. Even if he’s not our guy here, who’s to say he won’t be next time?...”

“And for the record, I don’t like that we’re relying on Shego’s word either. I mean- West Virginia? You’ve seen all those horror movies right? This whole thing has a bad vibe around it,” he asserts.

Rufus pops out of his pocket to chime in with a firm “M-hm!”

…

“Ron… I think Shego really wants to help this time. I mean- you saw her back at Nova Scotia. She said herself she was looking for a new start.”

“You’re forgetting the part where she said _paycheck and a pardon,”_ Ron refutes. “Seriously- this whole thing feels sketchy. Don’t get me wrong- glad to be kickin’ it old school with my main girl again, but still… Following a lead from Shego- to go find another bad guy- to go find _Bonnie Rockwaller?”_

“Ron…”

“Something’s gonna go wrong!”

…

For a moment, Kim is quiet as she composes a rebuttal for that.

She turns her attention to him. “…You’re probably right. But you know what? We’ve handled a lot worse- with a lot less info. So not the drama.”

Ron’s lips crack a little smile. “Feels good to hear you say that…”

Her lips crack a little smile too. “We’ll figure this thing out. It’s what we do… Well, it’s what we did do- are doing… You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I hear ya, Kim,” he simply says.

…

“Still… I’m not happy about Shego being a part of it…” he pouts.

“Uhm- HELLO?!”

…

Kim and Ron look to the backseat, and Shego is scowling a familiar scowl with her arms crossed.

“I’m still here you know?!”

“…Yes, I know,” Ron says as he scornfully lowers his brow.

She scowls _even more._ “Well then stop talking about me like I’m some kind of child before I come up there and-!”

“Guys! Please… Still driving here!” Kim begs.

…

Ron keeps glaring at Shego, and she keeps glaring at him. She starts to grit her teeth, and it’s enough to make him ix-nay the tough guy act-ay. He turns back in his seat and faces the windshield with trepidation.

And Shego arrogantly smiles to herself.

…

Kim glances at Ron, and apathetically shakes her head.

Then she glances in the rear view mirror- and sees the pale face of the woman behind her. If one thing has stayed the same after all these years, it’s her defiant disposition.

She can feel Kim’s eyes watching her, and looks to the reflection as well. In this, their eyes meet- sharing a challenging, yet somehow welcoming gaze.

…

Shego breaks off first.

\-----------------------

The remainder of the drive is quiet. The passengers all keep their contrasting thoughts about the “sitch” to themselves, all for good reasons. Eventually, the road branches off the mountainside and onto solid ground. It creates a straightforward passage into a little alcove with white oaks sporadically rooted along the way, and an old-timey hamlet becomes increasingly visible with every inch forward.

Suddenly everyone isn’t so tired, and they all perk up as the truck makes its way into the town. They drive along the main road and pass along several quaint little shops with various functions.

It all feels very Mayberry- except that there are no people in sight.

Nobody says a word. They all diligently focus their eyes on their surroundings, hoping to find a clue as to where they need to go next.

And maybe privately hoping to themselves that they won’t find cause for further alarm.

…

Finally, Kim decides it’s time to contact the expert. She pulls into a nearby gas station, prompting discomfited expressions from her passengers.

“I’m gonna call Wade. He said to give him a holler once we get here,” she explains as she shuts off the engine and pulls out her Kimmunicator.

Shego scoffs. “Holler? What- now that we’re in this backward hick town, you gotta start acting like one?”

Kim turns back to glower at her. “I actually lived in Walker for a little bit when I was a kid, just so you know.”

“I didn’t hear you say anything to nerdlinger about the horror movies?” she ripostes.

Ron lets out a “Hey!” but he’s quick to ease up when Shego starts gritting her teeth again.

…

Wade answers Kim’s call, and his face appears on the screen of Kim’s newest Kimmunicator.

“Hey Kim. What’s the sitch?” he asks with a haughty grin.

“Hey! That’s my line!” Kim playfully retorts.

“Heheh. Seriously, what’s up?” he reiterates.

“Well, we’ve made it to Happy Valley.”

“That’s the good news?” Wade intuitively asks.

“Yeah…” Kim bemoans.

…

“There’s no one here, Wade. Literally. We haven’t seen a single person since we made it in.”

“ _Wrong Turn,_ Kim!” Ron wisecracks.

She brushes it off. “Any ideas?” she asks the genius on the other line.

“Hmmm… I’ll look into it as much as I can. But you _are_ looking for Drakken, Kim. That’s what Shego’s there for. Maybe she’d have some idea as to where he might be holed up. _Assuming_ he’s holed up.”

She softly sighs to herself. “…Thanks, Wade.”

…

She hangs up, and then she and Ron both look back to Shego. She just keeps folding her arms, and meets them with more attitude.

“What?” she barks.

“Well?” Kim simply says.

“Pfffft! I don’t know! It’s kind of hard to find anything when we’re just sitting here!” Shego argues.

“So, what? You want me to just drive around?!”

Shego just fake smiles and waves her right hand. “Doy.”

…

Kim grudgingly turns back around, and Ron follows suit.

She turns the key in the ignition.

Nothing.

…

She tries again, but the truck just chokes.

“Dang it. C’mon!” she begs.

“Want me to have a look?” Ron asks.

“Do you even know what to look for?” Kim plaintively responds.

He just nervously laughs and rubs the back of his neck.

…

Shego showily groans. “Ughhh… Pop the hood,” she orders, and she gets out of the truck.

Kim looks to Ron again, and he just shrugs. So she complies.

…

Shego makes her way to the front of the vehicle, and she raises the hood to have a look at the truck’s anatomy. Kim decides to step out to stretch her legs as well. As she places her grip on the door handle though, Ron calmly places a hand on her forearm. She looks to his dubious face.

“Uhm, what are you doing?” he questions- likely with some connotative meaning associated to the former villainess.

“I’m just looking,” she simply answers, and she proceeds.

…

Once her feet meet the ground, she takes a good look around at the town around her. There’s something enigmatically peaceful about it, but the lack of human life makes it hard to truly appreciate it right now.

She shifts her focus to Shego as she cautiously treads to the front of the vehicle- being sure to maintain a comfortable distance away from her.

Despite all that’s changed over the last several years, Shego seems to be the only thing that hasn’t. At least not on the surface. Yes, she claims to be retired, and for all intents and purposes, she hasn’t given Kim any reason to doubt that. Other than that, she’s still very much… Shego.

In a way, it’s admirable. And in another _totally_ different way, it’s kind of neat to see her intently studying the inside of the truck with so much poise.

…

Maybe more so than she even realizes, because Shego keeps glancing at her from the corner of her eye before flat out stopping and meeting her with another grimace.

“Can I help you, princess?” she bluntly quips.

Kim sort of shakes her head. “No?”

“Then stop staring,” she adds, and she returns to her inspection.

…

 _“Was I staring?”_ Kim defensively thinks to herself.

…

After a moment of silence, Ron awkwardly makes his way out of the truck from the driver’s side to join Kim.

“So, it’s pretty weird that there’s no one else around, right?”

“So weird,” Kim answers. “Uhm, Shego? Find anything?” she anxiously asks.

“Uhh… No, actually. This thing’s in perfect condition,” Shego answers without the usual sarcasm.

…

Again, things get quiet. But it’s a different kind of quiet. Kim can feel the chilly pre-spring weather beginning to nip at her skin, and everything else is ominously standstill.

“…You know, I’m wondering- what if Drakken has something to do with it?” Ron thinks aloud. “…Kim?”

“Huh?” she utters.

“Did you hear me?”

“Oh… Uhm, what do you mean?” she almost subconsciously asks. In actuality, she’s more concerned with just how quiet things are. Like the cliché: “almost _too_ quiet.” A dreadful feeling gradually begins to take over her.

But Shego’s still focused on the truck, and Ron’s oblivious to her too as he continues theorizing.

…

“Maybe he like- built some sort of device, and it made everyone disappear? I don’t know why he would do it, but he always had weird reasons for doing the stuff he did. I mean- c’mon, buying a restaurant just to make toys take over the world?... And maybe he took Bonnie because- like, maybe she could power up the machine? Because she has so much negative energy? Something like that?”

…

By now, Shego has picked up on Kim’s nervousness.

“Stoppable,” she plainly states.

He just looks at her with a dumb expression, but she doesn’t look back. ‘Nuff said.

Now all three of them, and even Rufus, are experiencing the same dissonance.

Something isn’t right.

…

Strangely, the cloudy grey sky becomes dark, and it eclipses the daylight. It has practically turned night.

“What… the…” Ron utters. Rufus gulps.

Kim looks back to Shego, and she meets her with something she has never seen from her before.

Fear.

…

As unnaturally as the sky has blackened, heavy winds begin gusting from all directions. Where Kim was worried about the silence, she now worries about what she won’t be able to hear.

And then there’s the truck…

“Shego!...” Kim desperately calls out to her.

She slams the hood down. “Get in. Now,” she sternly tells her as she walks past her, and she takes it upon herself to assume the driver’s seat.

Kim and Ron rush to the other side and pile in, and Shego keeps frantically trying to work the ignition. “Damn it! Start! Get us out of here!” she curses.

…

Kim haphazardly looks out at the strange town through the windshield.

Through the darkness, she can see a humanoid figure standing idly at the very end of the road.

She just stares at it, and she just barely notices its beady yellow eyes. They’re just faint little flickers of light.

Ron looks to her. “KP?” he softly lets out. She says nothing, and he promptly looks out at the darkness too.

…

Where there were two flickers of light, there are now four. Then six, then eight, then ten, then twelve…

“Oh my god…” Kim mutters as the sense of dread becomes full-fledged panic.

Shego finally looks up from the steering wheel to shoot her a nasty glare; but once she sees the horrified look on her face, she ebbs- and she looks out as well.

Now there are too many of the beady yellow eyes to count.

…

“Kiiiiim!” Ron frightfully cries with poor little Rufus hanging out of his pocket- wearing a similar expression to Kim.

Again, Kim can say nothing. From mere instinct, she turns to face Shego. She knew what to do about the truck… Surely she’ll know what to do now?

…

Almost surprisingly, but “almost” as in: not really surprising at all; Shego snarls.

“Ruuuughh!” she groans, and she barges out of the truck door.

“Shego!” Kim calls out as she impulsively reaches to stop her, but her fingertips just barely ghost the fabric of her shirt.

…

The former Team Possible members just watch on as she trudges out into the middle of the road, and she conjures up familiar green plasma from her hands. It just barely illuminates the surroundings, but barely is enough to see more of the foreboding shapes.

They’re faceless. The only redeeming features left of a true face are those beady yellow eyes.

…

Shego just maintains her fighting stance, waiting for them to move first. Kim simply watches, because for what may be the first time in her life- she really doesn’t know what to do.

Ron grabs her by the shoulder and jostles her. “Kim… Kim! Call Wade! Kim!” he cries.

But still- she’s frozen.

Ron decides to try it himself, and he grabs the Kimmunicator from her hand. Finally, she snaps out of her daze.

She looks as he uses his shaky fingers to try and work the device, but it won’t turn on. “Dang it!” he curses.

She looks back out to Shego. After a drawn out stalemate between her and the entities, they finally begin pacing very slowly toward her.

“…We have to help her!” Kim yelps, and she gets out of the truck before she can hear Ron telling her to: “Wait!”

…

She begins running to Shego. Suddenly though, she can feel cold, scraggy fingers grabbing her shoulders. Just as suddenly, she’s face to face with one of the entities. It’s tiny yellow eyes are empty and pupiless, and its skin is dry and furrowed like it’s been charred.

She lets out a shriek, and it’s almost loud enough to muffle the sound of a gunshot.

_BANG!_

…

The creature falls to her feet, and she feels new warmth on her cheek. She looks over to the direction that the gun was fired, and sees Ron standing by the truck armed with a handgun. He seems just as shocked as she is that he could actually fire the weapon.

Unfortunately, it only fell one of the creatures. They begin methodically swarming around the trio, and the three exchange panicked looks with one another before taking further action.

It’s Shego to strike first. She puts up a decent effort as she punches and kicks some of the opposition, but they overwhelm her. One of the taller creatures trudges over to her, and swings its lanky arm to deliver an overhead blow. It knocks her out instantly.

“Shego!” Kim cries as she watches the vixen’s eyes seal shut, and she falls to the ground below- disappearing through the crowd of legs around her.

…

She can’t help but just stare for a moment, but the sound of Ron firing his gun a second time brings her to.

_BANG!_

She looks over to him, and just like Shego, the creatures are enclosing him. He tries and misses a third shot, _BANG! …_ and by now the creatures are restraining him. “KIM!” he cries.

…

“Ron!” she hollers back, but just as she’s superfluously reaching her arm out to him, another of the creatures comes to her face.

She feels the paralyzing fear overpowering her as she loses herself in its terrible eyes.

It’s the last thing she feels before blacking out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading the first chapter! Please stay tuned for more!:D
> 
> Okay folks, one thing you’ll come to learn from reading my work is that I’m a self-absorbed A-hole, and I love writing long-winded author’s notes because I have this crazy idea that people actually give a hoot what I have to say?!
> 
> …Basically, this whole thing started out as an original story with original characters that was influenced by my love of survival horror games and True Detective season one. I was growing bored with the thing though, and- thanks to a certain someone, I rediscovered my love for Kim Possible, so I decided to rewrite what I had, and well… Voila.
> 
> Fun fact: The KP wikia states that while Middleton is likely in Colorado, and that’s obviously where Kim lives in the show; it’s possible Kim may have been born in WV.
> 
> And just so we’re clear- I was born n’ raised in Wild, Wonderful. Mmm pepperoni rolls.
> 
> …Well, that’s the first chapter. I’ll shamelessly admit I love getting feedback, so feel free to comment/review, and know that I usually respond- even if you’re nitpicking or just calling me a POS.
> 
> Thanks again for reading, and- again, please stay tuned for more!


	2. Games

It was only a matter of time.

For seven months, Shego had been living peacefully in “middle of nowhere,” Nova Scotia. Barbados got too hot, Hawaii was too crowded, and she got sick of the food in Osaka. She got the idea that these would all be non-issues in the Maritimes, and her decision to move there seemed to be a fruitful one. It was nowhere near as fun as sparring with Kim Possible over Dr. D’s overly convoluted schemes, or working to steal some ancient, invaluable artifact for money or power.

But it had its perks. No one knew her name here. She could tell them she was a cage fighter turned schoolteacher one day, and a half-alien warrior princess the next. Whatever got klutzy guys- and sometimes girls, to buy her drinks at the bar.

Yeah, it wasn’t perfect, but she grew comfortable. Complacent even.

…

But of course, like all good things, it couldn’t last forever.

One night while attempting to drown away some of her _many_ regrets at a shack called the Les Paul- like the guitar; two heavy set drunken guys thought they could coerce her into “a little song… a little dance…” and then “maybe see what happens.” She wouldn’t have given them the time of day under any circumstances, but she was feeling particularly foul this evening, and stern “no’s” turned into a shouting match. Then she was lighting up her green plasma.

And just as she was about to acquaint douchebag uno’s head with douchebag dos’ ass, a ghost from her past returned in the form of the shrewd, slender, _“you’ve gotta be kidding me!”…_ Kim Possible.

And her annoying sidekick… Whatever his name was.

…

“Shego!” her old foe had called out from the entrance. _“Shoot,”_ Shego thought.

Then Kimmie started intently waltzing her way over, and various images of the young girl punching and kicking at her began flooding her mind. By instinct, she ran.

“Shego!” Kim called out again, almost desperately, but she wasn’t having it. She’d been down this road too many times before, and she’d be damned if it would happen again.

The worst part- she thought to herself as she anxiously began running through the streets of her new home, was that she would have to move now. _Again._

…

The game of cat and mouse continued until she made it up to the rooftop of what she vaguely remembers being the office of a notary.  She was met by the wall of the juxtaposing tavern, and her heart sank as she realized there’d be no escaping this one.

It was either get her ass kicked by Kim Possible, or get lectured by Kim Possible. She wasn’t too sure which was coming, and she wasn’t too sure which would be worse.

…

But sure enough, Kim and the buffoon caught up. Between what’s-his-face being obviously out of breath, and the goody-two shoes prom queen still running around with him in those stupid cargo pants she used to wear, she couldn’t help but laugh to herself. “Heheh…”

“Shego…” Kim firmly greeted.

“…Kim Possible,” she sardonically greeted back.

The redhead crossed her arms as she donned her serious face, and that was a dead giveaway that things wouldn’t be resulting in fisticuffs. At least not yet.

“…So, back to chasing bad guys, now?” she added with a sneer.

“I was under the impression you’re retired Shego. That doesn’t really make you a bad guy anymore,” Kim refuted, which earned her a scoff from the green-toned vixen.

“Speaking of retirement,” she simply said back.

Kim uncrossed her arms and took a step closer, and half-wit finally composed himself as he tried his best to look as intimidating as her.

Now the nostalgia was wearing off, and so was the amusement.

…

“I need your help, Shego,” Kim stated, cutting to the chase. At least she wasn’t going to pussyfoot her way around screwing up her night.

“Pshhh… And I need a million dollars and pony,” Shego quipped. Now she was crossing her arms.

“…What if I told you I could make that happen?” Kim responded. Even if she was serious, Shego was getting annoyed.

“Yeah, alright. What’s so important, Possible? I’ve got things to do and it’s friggin’ cold out here.”

Idiot boy and his naked rat thing started chattering their teeth and shivering on cue. _“What is this, a freakin’ cartoon?”_

…

Kim began. “Here’s the sitch…” Shego nonchalantly rolled her eyes when she heard that word. “The daughter of Senator Rockwaller’s gone missing. Folks over at Global Justice seem to think Drakken might be involved.”

Shego _again_ scoffed. This joke was getting old fast. “Oh my god, Kimmie. You’re doing GJ’s dirty work now? Can’t you get a job at Bueno Nacho or something like a normal pathetic loser?”

“We’d much rather be at Bueno Nacho right now, thank you very much,” doofus chimed in.

“Ron,” Kim simply said. _“Ron. Right…”_

…

“So, what? Big shot’s daughter goes missing and you guys just assume it was Drakken? You saw how happy that blue idiot was to be everyone’s new favorite hero,” Shego retorted.

“Look, Shego; the thing is that they both disappeared around the same time. Maybe he had nothing to do with it, maybe he did. I just need to know where to find him,” Kim indifferently followed up.

“I haven’t talked to him in a couple months. Wouldn’t know where to find him,” Shego simply answered, pretending to show more interest in her fingernails than the two _heroes_.

“This is getting us nowhere! Call Wade and tell him to get Dr. Director to-” Ron blurted out, but Kim stopped him with a calm hand raise.

“How about this: you help us out anyway you can, and we get you anything you want. The more you help us out, the more we help you out- capeesh?” she bargained.

Shego scornfully narrowed her eyes, arms still crossed. “Just what is _anything?”_

“Well, money- obviously. And I’m sure you could have any outstanding records absolved,” Kim answered.

“You assume I _need_ records cleaned.”

“Am I wrong?” Kim simply responded.

…

It was true. There was a reason Shego had remained under the radar. Drakken was able to accommodate to civilian life, but she wasn’t. And she tried. She really did.

“So a pardon and a paycheck. Big whoop. What’s so special about that?” Shego petulantly retorted. Truthfully, it was an enticing offer. If she was going to have to start her life over again, it would be easier not worrying about Big Brother watching. And the money would certainly help. But she’s _Shego._ The most dangerous woman- person even, in the world. If she was playing their game, she was playing to win.

And Kim was smart enough to bring this forward by making it about _her._

…

Then Kim snidely sneered at her. Apparently two could play this game.

“What are you doing here, Shego? Quiet little town away from it all? So not you.”

Shego snarled. “After all this time, you’d think you’d know _something_ about me.”

“You’re right. I know you miss the action. I know you miss the life- the thrills, the adrenaline from those times we pretty much tried to kill each other…” And while it had to be obvious Shego was transitioning from _annoyed_ to _angry,_ Kim somehow knew just how to handle it.

“Oh, but don’t worry. I do to,” she admitted.

“What?” Ron said, surprised.

…

Now Shego was starting to loosen up.

“That’s right, Shego. I miss it too. Probably not as much as you though. I mean, I’m pretty good with normal life now. But sometimes- I itch for something to go wrong, just so I can fix it with a fist!” she energetically says, throwing an air uppercut.

The gesture went over Shego’s head, but she was pretty much sold. It was now just a matter of letting Kim inflate her ego some more. So, she just stood there with her arms folded, taking it all in with a poker face.

…

“And wouldn’t it feel good to be on the winning side for once? I mean, think of those times we worked together just for a little bit. Imagine what we can accomplish if we really put our strengths together,” Kim continued.

Shego raised a brow and grinned a sly little grin. “Oh? What kind of strengths?”

It slightly caught Kim off guard, but she quickly worked with it. “Well, you’re obviously a great fighter. The best I’ve ever fought, even without your plasma… On top of that, you’re smart, and you can keep a level head in a tough sitch…uation.”

“And… what else?” Shego egged on. It was cute watching Kim try not to seem flustered.

“Well… uhm… I think we could mesh well together.”

Shego retained her sly smile. “Hmmm… At least buy me dinner first.”

…

Kim’s eyebrows raised, and her cheeks reddened. Actually, all three of the dorks were blushing, but it was only Kim’s reaction that really mattered to Shego. If they were going to play games, she wasn’t going to let Kim have all the fun.

“Ha! Alright, jeez Kimmie, don’t have a coronary… At least you didn’t try to say I have a _moral compass_ or something,” she joked with air-quotes.

The dorks ebbed. “Please, Shego. This mission’s important. There’s a lot on the line here,” Kim furthered.

Interestingly enough, this peaked Shego’s curiosity.

“Okay. So why’s it so important? To you, I mean.”

…

Kim’s response was belated. “I worked hard to make things right for a lot of people… And myself… If Drakken really is behind this, if Bonnie really is in danger… It’s my responsibility to take care of it. It just is.”

And while it could have just as easily been so wholesome and proper that it would completely turn Shego off from the whole thing, it didn’t. In fact, it was fascinating to see Kim display this type of desperate honesty. Yeah, Shego would need to _eventually_ try and talk her head out of her self-righteous ass at some point, but for now- she was satisfied.

…

But it’s Shego. She wasn’t going to let Kim think she was moved in any way. It was just a thing. No big.

“…West Virginia.”

“What?” Kim asked with a puzzled expression.

“If Drakken’s got your girl, he’d be in West Virginia. Some place called Happy Valley…” she began pacing back and forth, finally unfolding her arms. “Last time we talked about- you know, _evil_ stuff, he said he was going to look into these- _cults._ They did weird rituals and stuff in Happy Valley all these years ago. It was a couple years ago when we talked about it, so I don’t remember all the details… But if he’s really fallen off the wagon, he’s there.”

…

After her explanation, Kim and Ron shared a conspicuously doubtful gaze. Shego wasn’t amused. “What? You asked, I answered!”

“…It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Drakken was always more of a science guy. Spooky cult stuff is more like… Uhh- Monkey Fist,” Ron said, shuttering as he remembered his simian obsessed rival.

“Ron’s got a point, Shego. You’re sure he’d be there just from some talk you guys had a couple years back? I mean, if he’s chosen now to go back to being bad, why would he visit some old plan?” Kim pondered aloud.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I know a lot about the creep. Trust me, he wasn’t one to let plans go. No matter how stupid. Maybe he flirted with the idea of being a good guy and decided he didn’t like it. Or who knows? Maybe it was all part of some _master plan?_ He may have been a tool, but he was a smart tool…” Shego defended.

…

Kim took a moment to think it over as she twiddled her thumb against her lip. Shego just watched her. Her nose was reddening with the cold, and her face was- well, older. Little Kimmie was all grown up now. It was respectable, it was intriguing. In a small way, it was even a little titillating. Not many girls- hell, _people_ her age were this composed. She certainly was doing better than rat boy.

…

Finally, Kim broke the silence as she looked back up to Shego.

“If you’re on to something- this could be really good, Shego… I want you to come with us,” she told her.

“What?!” the former villainess and Ron both exclaimed.

“We could really use a guide. I mean, I’m not expecting you to sniff him out or anything; but if Drakken’s in this Happy Valley, you’d be better at picking up his trail than we would alone.”

Shego winced with disgust, and Ron’s jaw just hung open.

Kim could see her prior assertion was unmoving, and she rolled her eyes as she decided to go back to playing games.

“Besides… You look like you could use a little fun in your life. Unless you’ve gone soft?” she added, pulling a page out of Shego’s book by pretending to be more interested in her nails.

…

She was fully aware what the brat was doing, but what was the price of being toyed with compared to freedom and a bottomless purse? And really, Kim was right. Shego needed some fun in her life.

Still, part of the pretense was that she had to play along.

“…Ha! Me? Soft? In your dreams, girl. I can handle anything. Especially playing goose chase with you and freckles over here.”

Ron just soured as Kim smiled confidently. “Great,” she said, and she pulled out her Kimmunicator.

“It’s all good, Wade. She’s gonna play nice,” she told him over the line.

…

Then, a beacon of light revealed itself from the night sky, and the Global Justice hovercraft responsible for it followed suit.

It sort of pissed Shego off to think of what may have happened if she hadn’t of cooperated, but she quickly snuffed those feelings as Kim looked up from her handheld device to smile at her again. It wasn’t like the ones before- this one seemed to harbor appreciation.

Shego certainly wasn’t going to smile back. Fat chance.

But she didn’t frown either.

\-----------------------

Dull daylight emits through a window. It’s just enough to wake Kim up from a deep sleep.

She sits up from the cozy queen sized bed she’s lying on, and takes in the small, immaculate room around her.

 _“Where am I?”_ she thinks.

…

She rubs her forehead, doing her best to wrack her hazy mind for the answer.

There was the truck, Ron, Shego, Wade… Then darkness.

Then… the monsters.

…

_“Was it just a dream?”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter made things a little more clear. Well… clear as mud anyway;)
> 
> Trust me, I have a plan for this thing. Can’t let all the details slip in the first two couple chapters though. There’d be no fun in that.
> 
> …In other news, I’ll try to update fairly regularly. I actually have a buffer of chapters, and I have my beta reader go through them and crap like that before I post. It’s a bit of process, but I try to put my best efforts into my work. Note that I’m actually writing two stories right now with this and Luna is Strange, and I’m going to school full time. But I’m pretty good about staying on top of things- my good noodles would vouch for me.
> 
> Anywho, thanks for reading, as always, and spoiler alert: we’ll find out what’s up with our heroes in the next chapter.


	3. Wrong Turn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I’LL START UPDATING WEEKLY EVERY FRIDAY (starting on 1/12.) I’ll see how this works, and if it becomes infeasible, we’ll try something else. Teamwork makes the dream work, baby.
> 
> Please enjoy!

 

Kim stares into her reflection. Her green eyes are tired, and her complexion is a little paler in this lighting; but other than that, she looks fine. Certainly not like she and her friends were ambushed by a group of…

_“Whatever those were…”_

…

She waves her hand in front of her face, checking to see that she’s really awake- that she’s really alive.

It would seem that she is, so after letting out a heavy sigh, she leaves the bathroom. She puts her green jacket on after going through the door, then she thoroughly scans the strange room she woke up in.

It seems to be some sort of apartment studio, or maybe a motel room. She’s guessing the latter from how unlived in it is. It’s dark, and none of the lights are working. If it wasn’t for the beam of light coming from the window, she wouldn’t be able to see anything.

Not that there’s anything worth seeing… Except…

…

There is a small tri-folded sheet of paper on the counter just by the refrigerator. She picks it up, and reads it.

**_Please enjoy your stay!_ **

**_Ms. Possible, Mr. Stoppable, and Ms. Shego._ **

…

“What the heck?... Nobody knew we were coming… Did they?” she thinks aloud as she places the paper back on the counter.

“Okay, I can’t be too far from that gas station. I need to get back there, then I can find…”

She sighs. “Huh… Ron…”

…

She’s tempted to just stay in this spot and dwell on all the possibilities, but she can hear her father’s voice saying, _“That’s not the Possible way!”_

So, she bucks up, and decides to try her Kimmunicator again. As expected, it seems to have malfunctioned, and it won’t work. She decides to hang on to it though, _“just in case.”_

She paces to the main door, carefully grabs the knob, and twists it. She just barely pushes it open, just enough to see if there’s anything directly outside.

Unlike the room, the hallway is brightly lit. It’s quiet, so she decides to push her luck a little further, gradually opening the door all the way and stepping forward.

It’s just an ordinary hallway. No apparent reason to be alarmed.

…

She sighs again, and proceeds creeping forward.

Once she feels a sense of security, she calls out to her friends.

“Ron?... Shego?...”

No response.

…

She heads downstairs and into the lobby. Again, nothing remarkable.

“Roooon?... Sheeeego?...” she tries again with a little more bravado.

…

“Anybody?...”

\-----------------------

She then leaves through the main entrance of what appears to be “Dick’s Inn.”

There are no cars driving in the streets. Actually, there are no cars at all. No pedestrians walking along the sidewalk. It seems that everyone really is gone.

Everyone except a few blackbirds perched on a windowsill, but even they fly away soon enough.

…

She comes to a large sign, **“Happy Valley: The Happiest Place on Earth,”** it reads.

“Where the hell is everyone?” she asks herself.

…

With the silence, she’s able to reflect on the situation.

_“Okay… It was too real to be a dream. But then, where’s Ron? Where’s Shego? And how did I get to the motel?...”_

But it all seems pointless without someone else to talk to about it.

…

The silence is maddening. She can only hear the voice in her head, and nothing about any of this makes sense! Her heart starts pounding, and she starts shivering from the cold. And why? For _Bonnie Rockwaller?_

_“How could I be so- stupid! I had a good thing going on, and I screwed it up by taking this mission! Ron was probably right. Bonnie just ran off with some guy to escape it all, and Drakken is probably just going back to stealing nano-ticks or something stupid like that…”_

_“Ron… It’s my fault this is happening… I put you in danger… And Shego…”_

…

She comes to a four-way intersection, and stops just to look out to the paths before her.

There’s nothing but grey sky and faint raindrops in every direction.

Kim is alone.

…

She can feel her eyes welling up.

_“Damn it… I just wish I could find Ron…”_

…

“Kim!” she hears his voice say.

_“Oh god… I really am going crazy, aren’t I?”_

But she hears it again, a little louder, a little closer this time.

“KIM!”

…

She turns around, and she sees a silhouette in the distance. It just idly stands there, and she feels a tremor of fear come to her.

She just watches it for a moment, waiting for its beady yellow eyes to shine through the distance.

But they never do, and before long, it starts running to her with familiar, awkward carriage.

And with this, it becomes obvious…

It’s Ron.

…

“KP!” she hears him shout as his face becomes clear, and the tremor of fear is replaced by warm relief.

“Ron!” she hollers back, and she starts running to him too.

They meet halfway, and pull each other into a great big hug as they can’t help but joyfully laugh.

“Oh my god, Ron!… I’m so happy to see you!” Kim proclaims.

“Are you okay? Let me get a look at you,” Ron responds as he breaks away to do just that. Despite what they remember, neither one of them shows signs of being harmed.

And for a moment, they just look at each other as they digest the reality of the situation.

…

They let out weak little chortles through their smiles, but then Kim perks up with a concerned expression.

“Wait! Ron, where’s-?!”

Before she can finish, the little guy is poking his head out of Ron’s pocket, beaming from ear to ear.

“Ho-huh!” Rufus greets, and Kim smiles.

“Heheh… Glad to see you too, buddy,” she gladly tells the naked mole rat, and she pets his head.

…

But with the pleasure of the reunion starting to wear off, they return to form, and it’s Kim to address it first.

“Ron… What happened? Where were you?” she asks him.

He puffs up his cheeks then blows the air out. “…Jeez Kim, I wish I knew. I mean, I remember being attacked by those… things…”

He looks at Kim with a remorseful demeanor, almost to ask if she remembers to. She weakly curves her lips into a brief half-smile to let him know she does.

“I thought maybe it was a nightmare… Or that I was just going crazy. But if you remember too-”

“I do, Ron,” Kim affirms, resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

…

“I just don’t understand what’s going on. I mean, one minute it’s dark, and we’re being attacked by those- _things,_ and then I’m waking up in a motel room like I was just taking a nap?” Kim explains.

“Really? Huh…” Ron simply says as he shares a puzzled look with his pet. Then he looks back to Kim. “Yeah… I kind of know what you mean. I was in the truck when I came around. I saw that I had my gun in my lap, and that you guys were gone.”

“Where’d you get that thing, anyway?” Kim quickly responds with the concern radiating off her tone.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t tell you about it, Kim. It’s just, I’ve heard some sketchy things about the WV, and well… Better safe than sorry, right?”

…

“Well, I suppose it was a good thing you had it when those things showed up… Even if you almost shot me,” she semi-playfully retorts.

“Hey! I’ve had practice! I wouldn’t have taken the shot if I wasn’t sure I was gonna hit him!”

“I thought you had a no guns thing? Like Fearless Ferret?…” Kim says, crossing her arms and raising her brow.

“Like I said in the truck. _Wrong Turn.”_

…

They take a breather before Ron begins again.

“Either way, I’m glad you’re okay. And I’m glad you remember it too. I mean, I know it sounds kind of messed up, but I thought I was going crazy for a minute…”

“Yeah, I know Ron. I know,” Kim somberly agrees. But she shakes it off. There’s work to be done.

“Right,” Ron says with a grin. “So, what do we do now?”

…

“Well… We need to find Shego and make sure she’s okay first,” she says, and Ron frowns.

“Of course,” he moans, but Kim disregards his pettiness.

“You said you woke up in the truck?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“Did you see if it would start?”

“Pshhh!” Ron drolly replies. “What do you think I am, an idiot? Of course I checked!”

“And?”

“It doesn’t work,” he confirms, snuffing his brief amusement.

…

Kim takes a moment to consider their course of action, and she makes a decision.

“Well… I think we should go back to the motel where I woke up. There has to be a reason I ended up there. Maybe we’ll even find Shego,” she speculates, and Ron again frowns upon hearing the vixen’s name. This time, Kim calls him out on it.

“Ron…” she simply groans.

“Okay, fine,” he groans back. “But I still don’t trust her.”

“So not the drama, Ron. We still have a mission to do. It’s not just about Bonnie and Drakken anymore. Something is seriously screwed up in this town, and we’ve got to find out what it is,” she states.

“Boo-yah,” Ron simply replies, and Rufus chirps with agreement.

…

With that, they resume their mission.

 _“I just hope you’re wrong about Shego…”_ Kim thinks to herself as they go on their way.

\-----------------------

“What do you think they were?” Ron asks Kim as they near Dick’s Inn.

She takes a moment to ponder on it. “They… looked like people? Sort of?...”

Ron frowns. “Yeah, I was worried about that… If that’s true, then I shot-”

…

They’re interrupted by what sounds like a can rattling on the ground. They turn to check it out, and that’s exactly what it is.

They look out the way it rolled in from, and are staggered at the sight of one of the strange creatures from before. In the daylight, they can see that its skin is a leathery shade of maroon, and it’s head is shaking around- convulsing.

“Ron…” Kim weakly mutters.

“RUN!” he shouts, grabbing her by the wrist and darting towards the motel.

…

With every step, they see more of the creatures approaching from every direction.

Fortunately, they make it into the building, and they’re quick to lock the door behind them.

“That won’t hold them,” Kim states.

“Right,” Ron agrees, and Rufus pops his worried little head out of his jacket pocket.

“You just hide, buddy. It’s gonna be alright,” he assures the naked mole rat, to which he complies.

…

Kim rushes over to a sofa in the waiting area. “Give me a hand with this!” She commands, and he hurries over to the over side of it. Just as he grabs hold of it, they hear a loud thud on the entrance door.

“Shoot! They’re coming!” Ron yelps.

“Hurry, Ron!”

…

They’re able to push the sofa to barricade the door, but more and more of the creatures’ fists are pounding on it.

Ron equips his pistol again, and cocks it. “I don’t have a lot of ammo. We need to move!”

“Right!” Kim agrees, and they hurry upstairs.

…

Kim pulls out her Kimmunicator, and again tries to call for Wade. “Please, please work.”

It doesn’t.

“No!” she moans, and she deflates.

“…Kim, you hear that?” Ron prompts her.

“What?” she replies, meeting him with a dejected pout.

“Exactly,” Ron keenly answers.

…

They clam up as they listen. Nothing.

“…Do you think they’re gone?” Ron adds.

“I don’t know. But if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that it’s never this easy. Come on, we need to find another way out of here.”

…

With that, they cautiously press forward, Ron still readily holding on to his pistol. It makes Kim uneasy being so close to a gun, and even more so for Ron’s sake. Even so, it proved to be somewhat of an equalizer before, and it could be again in an emergency.

As they continue along the corridor, remaining diligent, they discover a hissing sound.

“What is that?” Ron whispers.

They look around, and Kim thinks she’s pinpointed the source. She treads carefully to a nearby- just barely cracked door, and she nudges it open. The room inside is completely dark, all except for an old box television that displays nothing but static.

Until it starts flashing various black and white images of foreign symbols, farm animals, and small children.

…

Then, it returns to static.

“…What the hell?” Ron bluntly expresses.

“Forget it. We’ve got more important things to worry about,” Kim insists.

…

They make their way back into the hall, and then to the nearest outside door to get to the other side of the duplex. As they pass the walkway, they look around to see what the creatures are doing. To their surprise, there aren’t any. Even the ones that chased them into the building have seemingly disappeared.

“I don’t like it. They didn’t just go away,” Ron intuitively guesses.

“You’re probably right. Maybe there’s more to these things than they’re letting on.”

…

They pass through the door leading into the next building. It’s dark, but a red light emits from around the bend of the L-shaped corridor.

“I don’t like this,” Ron states.

Kim decides she doesn’t very much like it either, and she turns to make her way out the door.

It’s locked.

She forcefully shakes the handle, but nothing happens. “Damn it. No!”

“Are you kidding me?” Ron cries.

“So not the time for kidding, Ron,” she tells him with disbelief.

…

She lets go of the handle, and Ron tries to open it now. He has just as much luck.

“Come on… Come on!... Ugh- Rufus, see if you can get it to open,” he instructs, and he gently pulls him out of his pocket to do just that.

As they tinker with the locked door, Kim cautiously makes her way to the bend, and turns to find a crimson door with a single red light shining above it.

She just stares in frightful awe.

…

Ron sneaks up on her, startling her enough to gasp.

“Jeez, sorry Kim.”

She sighs. “…You scared me.”

“…Rufus couldn’t get the door open… So, I guess this is the only way, huh?” he bemoans with slouched shoulders.

“I guess so,” she weakly replies, and they again turn their attention to the ominous red door.

…

“That’s pretty creepy,” Ron tries to quip, but neither of them is able to get much humor out of it.

Kim takes a deep breath, and she prepares to reach her hand out for the door. Ron stops her.

“I’ll go first. You stay behind me,” he tells her.

She looks to the gun in his hand, and then meets his eyes. She only nods.

He takes the lead, and carefully opens the red door.

\-----------------------

Beyond the door is another hallway, almost exactly like the one before it. However, the entire corridor is illuminated by ominous red lighting. Kim’s heart sinks, and she imagines Ron must be feeling the same way; but neither one of them can muster words.

Ron checks to see if the door behind them has locked like the one before, and it has. With no other options, they continue along the red corridor.

Rufus is quivering with fear in Ron’s pocket, and he uses his free hand to try and calm him. Kim meanwhile finds herself truly terrified, and finds herself practically cowering behind Ron as she rests her hands on his shoulders.

_“Anything’s possible… For a Possible…”_

…

They come around the bend of this hallway.

To their surprise, they find a woman in a long white gown casually passing through a door. She moves gracefully- too gracefully given the circumstances.

“Holy-! Did you see that?!” Ron blurts out.

“She- she could have been normal… We need to catch up to her,” Kim almost thoughtlessly responds.

…

So, despite his reservations, Ron follows the strange woman through the door. As they go through, Kim expresses her guilt.

“I’m sorry I got you into this Ron… I’m so sorry.”

“We’ll get through this. We always do,” he calmly responds with conviction.

…

There is yet another corridor. Unlike the last two passages, this hallway is almost completely dark with the exception of some flickering, dim lights from the ceiling. There are doors along the walls, all of which are open.

They peek into some the rooms as they pass by, but they see nothing of interest. “This is ridiculous!” Ron grumbles, as they once again come to an end door. They open it, and there is a room that is impractically oversized for the complex. They can hardly see anything inside, as their only source of light comes from the faintly lit hallway.

It’s just enough though.

…

There are many photographs hung up on the walls and scattered across the floors and furniture. “Okay, I’d really like to wake up now,” Kim quips.

Some of the photos depict portraits of families and children. Some show off the architecture and geography of Happy Valley. Others depict community events like block parties and business openings.

Kim picks up a photo of smiling twin girls from an end table, and it gives her momentary relief. However, there is another photograph hidden underneath of this one. It shows a group of people wearing outfits made of animal skins, and they are wearing taboo “helmets” made from deer skulls and other foreign objects.

Suddenly, Ron gasps, “Oh my god.”

…

“What?” Kim questions, and she walks over to him.

“Look at this,” he says, holding up a picture of a mutilated pig. The three of them, including Rufus, visibly express their disgust. As they look up from the photo to resume scanning the room, they discover similar macabre photography, as well as more photos of the “animal people.”

“Shego said something about cults from around here,” Kim recalls.

“Yeah, she did,” Ron affirms.

…

There is another door in the room, and they presume it will lead them to an exit. “Let’s go,” Ron says, and they walk over to and through it.

It leads them into a T-shaped corridor that’s surprisingly lit. But just as they enter, a hulking figure- much larger than the creatures from before, trudges through the parallel passage. It has ashy white skin, but there are also visible, bloody wounds all over its body.

…

Upon seeing it, Ron is quick to shield Kim with a defensive stance, almost backing her into the wall behind them.

He waits a short while before relaxing himself. “I don’t think it saw us,” he quietly lets out.

“Let’s just go before it comes back!” Kim assertively whispers.

…

They go the opposite direction of the figure. Ron now takes the rear, and he gestures Kim to lead the way. They hurry along, and discover another door.

“This better be the exit,” she desperately says. They go through the door, and end up in a very long hallway.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” moans Ron. Rufus face palms.

“Come on, let’s just go,” Kim orders, and they pick up the pace.

…

She hears just the fainted grunt, and almost assumes it to be Ron.

But she turns around, and she finds that the hulking creature is now following them.

“RUN!” she yells just as Ron is turning to see what it is, and she yanks him forward and does just that.

…

Amazingly, there is an elevator at the very end of the hall. “Boo-yah!” Ron blurts out upon seeing it.

Unfortunately, the beast is quickly gaining on them. Ron realizes this as he’s able to help Kim into the elevator, and he hesitates.

“Ron! Come on!” she pleas.

…

He quickly pulls Rufus out of his pocket, and hands him to Kim. “Take him!” he demands.

“Ron- what?! No! Get in here, now!”

“We won’t make it if I don’t stop him!” he argues, and he readies his pistol to fire at the pursuer.

As he unloads his clip on it, it lets out a blood curling growl. It staggers Kim, and she haphazardly looks into Rufus’ terrified eyes- as if to find comfort in them.

…

The doors begin to shut. She almost doesn’t even notice. She rapidly pushes the open button on the panel, but it does nothing.

“Ron! NOW!” she yells.

…

Realizing he can’t fight it any longer, Ron tries to force himself in.

But it’s too late.

Kim helplessly watches on as the doors slowly conceal Ron’s panicking face, and the beast that’s caught up to him. “KIM!” she hears him scream.

“RON!”

…

…

The elevator starts going down. She falls to her knees, sobbing.

“No… Oh god- No!...”

She again meets Rufus’ eyes. She can see the terrible combination of pain, sorrow, grief, and disbelief in them. It breaks her heart.

“I’m so sorry, Rufus…”

“Ron…”

\-----------------------

Once the elevator stops, she jolts up and starts desperately punching the buttons on the panel to try and get back to her best friend. It’s hopeless.

She bows her head in defeat, catching glimpse of the heartbroken naked mole rat on the floor. They look to each other with defeated, miserable eyes, but can only hold for so long before sullenly falling again.

…

Then, Kim notices something.

Lying on the ground just a few paces ahead, there is a pistol.

She curiously decides to make her way over to it. “Come on, Rufus,” she softly says as she picks him up. She rests him in her pocket, then collects and examines the firearm.

It looks just like Ron’s.

…

Her heart begins to flutter as she weighs the possibilities.

_“It’s- it’s his gun... It has to be. But how did it get down here?...”_

_“Could he have gotten away?... I didn’t hear any screaming. I didn’t hear anything actually… Is it really possible? Could he still be okay?”_

_“…I have to find him. I have to be sure.”_

…

“Okay Rufus. We’ve still got a fighting chance here. Ron has to be alright. He just has to be. Are you with me, buddy?” she imploringly says to him.

He pitifully smiles, and Kim returns one of her own.

They waste little time getting out of the motel.

\-----------------------

It appears to have rained some more while they were in the motel. Just as before, there isn’t a living soul in sight.

Unfortunately, there’s no indication that Ron or the beast from before made their way through here, but Kim decides that he _had_ to of came this way. She _knows_ him well enough to know it’s just what he would do.

That- and _she’d_ want to get the hell out of there if it was her being chased by that thing.

…

“We’ll find him, Rufus. I know we will,” Kim promises him. She realizes just how little she’s taken the little guy’s feelings into consideration all these years- one _more_ thing she can guilt trip herself about, and how sad it is that it took Ron’s endangerment to make her think about it.

_“I can’t think like this. It will just slow me down. If I’m going to find him, I need to stay focused, I need to be strong. Don’t forget about the mission, Kim… Anything’s possible for a-”_

_BANG! BANG!_

…

Gunfire. From the east.

…

…

_“Ron?...”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pillow! You effing jerk! How could you?!
> 
> All I’ll say is: relax. This is only chapter three. We still got a ways to go. I don’t want to give anything away- I don’t do spoilers, but don’t get TOO excited just yet. Take that for what it’s worth. Yoga breaths.
> 
> …On a lighter note; in case you’re wondering, I picture Kim to be wearing basically the female version of James Sunderland’s outfit from Silent Hill 2. (Aha!)
> 
> Shego I visualize to be wearing a thick charcoal/blackish gray flannel shirt, and tight jeans that are just a shade darker. Not too dark though.
> 
> Ron is wearing a leather jacket over a modern version of his attire from the show. Something less baggy.
> 
> “Dick’s Inn” is a play on words to sound like “Dixon.” I love Norman Reedus, that’s why;p
> 
> …That’s really all I got for you today. Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned you beautiful people you.


	4. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just throwing this out there: if you’re looking for some background music to jam to while you read, I recommend the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack. It’s got a good blend of creepy and emotional, plus some epic ballad-esque stuff to boot.
> 
> Thanks, and please enjoy!

 

It’s very dark. Daylight faintly glimmers through the blinds of the windows, creating a greenish aura.

Shego wakes up in this place, just above a stairwell. The aroma of glossy linoleum is almost familiar enough for her to figure it out, but it’s the lockers along the walls that gives it away.

She’s somehow made it to Middleton High School, a place where she briefly put her inane teaching degree to use- thanks to in part to being manipulated by Electronique’s attitudinator. She hardly recognizes it now without snobby teenagers clamoring about or Steve Barkin annoyingly drooling over her, but it is definitely the home of the Mad Dogs.

…

She rises up, and takes it all in. _“How did I get here?”_ she wonders.

There was the truck stalling, and freakin’ Kim Possible of all people watching over her shoulder as she tried to fix it. _“Probably making sure I wouldn’t do something EVIIIIL… As if I even care anymore.”_

Doofus started going on about Dr. Drakken, Kim surprisingly froze like a deer caught in headlights, and then the party started.

_“Yeah. This makes tons of sense. One minute we’re just part of a stupid search and rescue, and the next we’re stepping into the Twilight Zone… And now I’m all the way in freaking Losersville, Middleton!”_

…

“Well, at least I’m not dead,” she groans to herself as she starts almost thoughtlessly walking through the halls. With the greenish dim lighting and this peculiar haziness she feels in the air, she can’t help but wonder if maybe this is just a lucid dream of some sort.

Regardless, there’s work to be done. Whether it involves regrouping with _Ms. Acts-Like-A-Grown-Up_ and her idiot errand boy or not, she’s getting out of this place and forgetting about the weird creatures that attacked them back in Happy Valley.

She’s gonna try like hell, anyway.

…

She begins to take the stairs down to the floor below, but she hears a creaking noise, and turns to see a classroom door creeping open. She just incredulously stares at it for a moment, debating on whether or not he should risk investigating it.

She decides that she’s been in worse _sitches-_ as Kim calls ridiculously calls them. She’s never backed down from a challenge before, and if someone or something is trying to pull a fast one on her, _she_ should strike first, right?

She comes to the classroom door, and gently opens it the rest of the way to peek inside. No one is inside. “Maybe there’s a loose bolt or something,” she thinks aloud.

…

She examines the classroom, but nothing unusual stands out except for a second door in the back of the room, presumably one that annexes with another classroom.

She turns to leave, but oddly enough, the door she came through is closed. She attempts to open it, but it won’t budge, no matter how hard she tries. “Bullshit! I’m about to just friggin’ melt-!”

While trying to force the door open, she overhears commotion coming from the back of the room. She turns to face it, but there’s nothing going on.

At least, not in _this_ room.

…

Curiously, she heads to the other door and goes through, entering the annexing classroom. It’s empty.

Remarkably though, an overhead projector is playing a slideshow on the whiteboard. There are strange, unclear pictures of unfamiliar symbols, as well as farm animals and small children.

Then, unexpectedly, there is a picture of Shego and Kim taken from a few years ago, back when she was under the spell of the attitudinator. The picture of the smiling ladies stays up for a few seconds before the projector suddenly burns out.

…

Shego just stands there for a moment, stunned. _“Why the hell would that picture be here? Heck- I burned it to a crisp!... This has to be a dream…”_

As she leaves the classroom through the main door, the image or Kim’s fearful face from before enters her mind. There were instances in the past, before everyone retired, where she had seen some trepidation from her former rival. But fear? True, unmistakable fear? Never.

“I wonder if she made it out of there…” she finds herself asking aloud.

But then she realizes that she sounds a little _concerned_  for the brat, and she quickly buries it deep.

“Psshhh… What do I care? She and the dweeb and the rat thing are probably glad to have me out of the way?!”

\-----------------------

She comes to the south wing of the building, and sees a light shining from a room in the middle of the corridor. As she approaches it, she realizes it is the school auditorium. As with the classroom she entered, she takes careful consideration.

A spotlight shines down on the stage. Everything is set up to portray some sort of altar with candelabras standing around it. On the left hand side of the stage, a gun lies on the ground, and to the right, there is what appears to be a large pool of blood.

_“O-kay? Not like any Shakespeare crap I’ve ever seen…”_

…

She steps up on the stage to have a closer look. She picks up the gun, and it is an actual gun, not a prop.

_“Holy shit?! These kids weren’t playing around…”_

She places it in her waistline for safekeeping- deciding she may need it if this _isn’t_ a dream. She then walks over to the puddle, and it takes her little scrutinization to realize it too is real.

…

A chill shivers down her spine. She’s suddenly compelled to look up to the balcony of the auditorium.

Although it is very dark up there, she can faintly see what looks like a _person_ standing in the aisle.

She blinks a few times to maybe see more clearly, and yes- there really is someone standing up there.

She stares at it, and is able to make out that it’s a feminine form. _“A woman?... Possible?”_

…

Just as she’s starting to make out the whites of her eyes, the lights begin to flicker on and off, until they finally come on all together.

…

A bell rings. _RIIIIIINNNNGGGG!_

Through the sudden excitement, she finds that the figure on the balcony is gone. She then turns around to find the set still intact, but the pool of blood has disappeared.

With that, she hastily decides to leave the auditorium.

…

In the hallway, to her genuine astonishment, students are casually roaming the halls.

Shego is completely dumbfounded. She stands in nebulous as some of the teenagers pass her, some giving her looks, but most not even noticing her.

…

“Shego,” a familiar voice calls out. She doesn’t even hear it.

“Shego,” the voice calls out again, this time grabbing her attention.

…

She turns to see that is none other than her former accomplice, Dr. Drakken.

“Drakken?” she questionably responds, unsure of how to feel.

“It’s been a while,” Drakken says with a crude smile, taking a good look at his old cohort.

…

“I wasn’t sure you would come,” he says to her.

Shego says nothing, awestruck.

…

“Helloooo? Earth to Shego! Are you ready to get to work?” he asks.

“I-” she begins, “I don’t know.”

…

Drakken face palms as his smile disappears. “Shego, please don’t tell me that meddling Kim Possible get to your head… She’s really not all that, you know?”

…

 _“It’s official. I’m losing my mind,”_ Shego thinks to herself. Even so, she says nothing. Even she knows when it’s best to keep her mouth shut.

…

“Never mind! Just follow me, and don’t do anything- well… _you.”_

She relents and follows him. As they walk, Drakken suddenly stops her and looks at her with suspicion. “Shego, I have to ask. Are you on something?”

“What? No!” Shego retorts with some vigor. It actually brings her a very small, nostalgic high to shut Drakken down the way she always used to do.

But as he turns away and proceeds along the halls of this revolting place, it dies down.

_“Something is seriously wrong here…”_

\-----------------------

They arrive at the main office of the school. “Act natural, Shego. Let me do the talking,” Drakken instructs, and he turns to begin a discussion with a receptionist.

…

Just then, a very disturbing thought enters Shego’s mind.

_“What if this is a set-up? What if- somehow, this all part of some elaborate plan to nail me and Drakken at once?! Maybe this is all some sick thing set up by Kim and GJ to get us both off the streets for good!... Oh those bastards! They think they’re so clever… Well they’re not!”_

_“Kim thinks she can just come into my life and ruin a perfectly good thing by playing the puppy pouting do-gooder card, huh? And I actually bought it! I can’t believe I was so foolish to think she was trying to do me a favor!... Ohhhhh-ho-ho, well I’m not falling for it anymore PRINCESS!”_

…

“Wait!” she blurts out. Drakken turns to her with a desperate _What do you think you’re doing?!_ look in his eye, and the receptionist just looks more confused than anything.

“Can’t this wait _dear._ I’m sure finding Ms. _Rockwaller_ is just as much your priority as it is _mine.”_

…

The violent surge of neurotic panic falters. _“Did he just say- Rockwaller?”_

…

She just dumbly, _bewilderedly_ looks to him, but then finds her eyes just moving in every direction as she becomes lost in her thoughts. It’s all happening so fast: the Drakken, the school, the creatures, the Kim Possible… _“What the hell is happening to me?!”_

She starts backing out of the office, and Drakken animatedly starts displaying his frantic stress by running his fingers through his hair and biting his fingertips. “Shego!- I mean, _honey…_ Please settle down. We have _work to do!”_ he tells her, the fake concern shifting to vengefulness.

…

She nearly makes it to the door, when the gun slips and falls from her waistline. It hits the floor and just lies there, making itself completely obvious for everyone in the room to see.

…

Everyone begins to panic, and the receptionist is quick to start calling for security. Drakken visibly shifts from surprised, to angry, to panicked.

…

Shego could care less about any of them though- not even Drakken.

She fires up her plasma with one hand, and uses the other to swiftly pick up the firearm. She aims it at the blue-skinned villain.

“Stay back!” she commands.

…

“Don’t do something you’ll regret, Shego,” Drakken pleas to her, defensively throwing his hands up.

From the whispers of the other patrons scurrying out of the office, she knows full well that police will soon be here to detain her. _“Fat chance!”_

…

She rushes out the door, simply leaving Drakken alone to wilt without her. Hell, he’d do the same to her.

She cautiously paces through the hallways to find the nearest exit, and a man over the intercom system alerts everyone about “a woman with a gun.”

…

As she prudently makes her way along and finds an exit, she realizes that it’s become too quiet.

Everyone has disappeared.

…

The lights once again begin to flicker on and off, and she stops to observe the phenomenon.

She turns around, and the ceiling lights go off one by one.

As they do, the figure from the balcony suddenly appears in the middle of the corridor.

She stands and stares in awe as she realizes this, trying to make out just who this mystery woman really is.

…

But the whites of her eyes that she expected to see do not come.

Instead, a brief flicker of perfect light offers her a glimpse of the woman, revealing a grotesque, sickly looking, ghostly white face with deep black eyes.

It sends absolute fear through her bones.

…

She rushes out of the building, and swiftly into the woods behind the school.

She rests for a minute, catching her breath and observing her surroundings. No one is around. No students or faculty, no police, no one. She doesn’t hear sirens. The apparition apparently hasn’t pursued her, but she looks in every direction to be sure.

…

When she feels somewhat safe, she lets out a heavy sigh.

“Get a grip, Shego… You’re losing it here,” she voices.

…

As she rests her hand over her heart and calms her breaths, she looks back to the building for another inspection.

Then, she realizes something.

…

It’s not Middleton High School. In fact, it’s actually Happy Valley Preparatory School. The sign says so.

…

 _“What the hell?”_ Is all she can muster to think.

_If this is Happy Valley- then what the hell was that? Was I imagining things? Have I been here the whole time?”_

_“Then those things… Kim…”_

_“It was real…”_

…

She decides that there’s no more time to waste, and that no one is coming for her. So she sneaks through the foliage, making her way to the front lot of the school to search for transportation. Incredibly, there are no cars parked in the entire lot, not a single one. “What the hell is going on?” she worriedly thinks aloud.

As she’s walking around, she remembers that she has a pistol tucked in her waistline. She takes the gun from her pocket, and decides to check and see if it’s even loaded. It is.

She makes sure the safety is on before tucking it back in her waistline, deciding that it may come in handy if her plasma powers should for any reason fail her.

She proceeds to the front of the building, and takes one last look at everything, just for good measure.

_“If someone is messing with my head… They’re gonna pay.”_

…

With seemingly nothing left to do here, she decides it’s time to get moving.

\-----------------------

Shego finds herself traversing through Main street until she’s made it back into town. A large sign alongside the road reads, “ **Happy Valley: The Happiest Place on Earth**.”

_“Yeah… More like The Gayest Place on Earth.”_

…

She continues along Main Street, passing several locally owned businesses. Still, she doesn’t see a single vehicle, minus a bicycle chained up at a burger joint. “Unbelievable,” she thinks aloud. “Am I really gonna have to walk the whole way?”

 

…

She comes to a gas station across from a pizza shop, just on the edge of a neighborhood. Two ideas come to mind.

One: there’s at least one vehicle that in this backwoods ghost of a hick town… Assuming Possible and her reject sidekick didn’t up and take off in it, and assuming it even still runs.

Two: most gas stations have something useful inside.

…

So, she decides to check inside for a phone, or anything else he could possibly use.

But as she’s making her way into the entrance, something catches her attention from the corner of her eye.

Someone is walking up an uphill road just to the north.

She considers maybe shouting for them, but quickly talks herself out of it. Really, with the luck she’s having, what are the chances it’s a friendly face with the means to get her far away from this hellhole?

…

Instead, she decides to put her stealth skills to use, and follow the mystery pedestrian until she knows what she’s in for. “I at least want to see if they’re a threat.”

She jogs to make it over to the uphill road, then slows down to sneak along the rest of the way.

She stops at an intersection to see which way the pedestrian went, but they’ve- now unsurprisingly, vanished.

 _“Wonderful,”_ she snidely thinks, and she decides to just keep going straight. She passes several vacant houses, all offering her nothing worthwhile.

And the stupid gun around her waist is starting to chafe against her hip, so she decides to stop and rest for a moment after readjusting the thing.

She takes a good look around, and there’s still no one in sight.

…

 _“This is getting really old…”_ she tells herself, but even her own cynical monologue isn’t so fun anymore.

She decides to investigate the empty homes to see if the pedestrian went inside somewhere, or maybe even find a phone or something. She checks a couple of doors and windows, but they are all locked. She keeps this up before coming to another street.

Overwhelmed, she takes a seat on a set of porch steps and lets out a defeated sigh.

“This sucks…”

…

By sheer random happenstance, she looks up just to stop staring at her feet.

That's when she sees a familiar beat up old Silverado parked a couple blocks down the road.

Without a second thought, she gets up and takes off for it.

…

As she runs, her peripheral vision picks up on something moving between two adjacent houses at her right. She almost wants to just ignore it and keep running to the truck, but her judgment forces her to stop and address the disturbance.

She looks over to find one of the ghastly creatures that attacked her and the others slowly treading her way.

She assumes a fighting stance and powers up her plasma. Whatever it is, a person or something else- _who knows what,_ she’s not going to let these bastards get lucky a second time.

…

“YAHHHH!” she cries, and she lunges at it with a strong right hand.

She connects directly with its face. She can smell the plasma smoldering its already rotted face, but she looks up to see that it’s just barely been staggered.

It did more harm to her hand than anything.

“Damn…” she utters as she grasps her injured wrist. She looks up to see the creature still methodically stepping toward her even as half its face is melting, and she realizes she can’t afford to underestimate it.

“Plan B,” she grudgingly says as she steps back. Then, she reaches for the handgun she picked up from the school, and she steadily aims it until she’s targeted its forehead.

…

_BANG!_

…

It was a perfect shot. She can’t help but proudly grin as she looks up to see the creature taking the impact of the bullet to its skull.

It stumbles back like it’s going to fall over, but it doesn’t. In fact, it recomposes itself, and it simply resumes trudging towards her.

…

Shocked, she steps back as it comes.

And now she realizes that the creature isn’t alone, as more and more reveal themselves from corners of all houses.

…

She decides to retreat for the truck, and takes off running in the other direction. She gets to it, and luckily enough, it’s unlocked. She gets in the driver’s seat, and locks the doors as the creatures slowly but steadily come after her. She searches for the keys, but she can’t find them anywhere; not the glove box, the console, or anywhere.

…

And now they’ve almost made it to the truck.

…

Dread overwhelms her. It seems like there’s no way out of this one. The freaks will rip the doors of the vehicle and drag her out, and yeah, she’ll put up a fight, but they’ll eventually overpower her and eat her or rip her apart or whatever it is they do.

She looks down at the gun in her hand. She decides that if it comes down to it, she will-

…

_BANG!_

She hears a gunshot.

_BANG!_

And another.

 _BANG! BANG!_ More gunfire.

…

…

She crouches down for safety, until the gunfire finally stops. She raises her head up to take a look, and some of the creatures have fallen, but none of them appear to be dead.

There’s a loud thud from the passenger side door, and she turns to see what it is.

…

It’s freakin’ Kim Possible.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t really have anything important to say after this one, but hopefully I’m eliciting some critical thinking from you guys regarding- well, everything. :)
> 
> Thanks a whole bunch for reading up to this point, and I’m hopeful you’ll enjoy what’s to come, especially now that our lovely heroines have found each other.
> 
> Thanks again, and please stay tuned!


	5. Trust

Shego just watches as Kim rests her palms against the cold passenger side window with this beseeching look in her eyes. With her showing up and the awful creatures all closing in around them, it’s just so sudden, and she freezes.

…

“Shego!” Kim’s muffled voice cries out, and she snaps out of her daze to unlock the door. Kim climbs in almost instantly.

She’s panting, and she looks at all of the bodies lying around the truck. None of them appear to be dead, but at least they won’t be able to harm them from the pavement. She then turns her attention to Shego, whose surprised expression shifts into one of familiar cynicism.

…

“Here to _save the day?”_ she quips as she folds her arms.

Despite her obvious disparagement, Kim is glad to see she’s all right. “Thanks,” she softly says. She checks on Rufus, who is camping in her pocket, and he’s still in one piece. Depressed- but still in one piece.

She lets out a sigh, then looks back to Shego, who is now looking at the creatures with indifference.

“Are you okay?” Kim asks.

No response.

…

“Are you hurt?” she asks now, but again, no response.

…

“Nice… But I could’ve done better,” She finally says, but she doesn’t look back at Kim.

“Always a competition, huh Shego?...” she weakly says, and she looks to the key switch of the truck. Unsurprisingly, there’s no key.

“I don’t suppose you’d know where the keys are?”

“No. I checked everywhere. They’re not in here.”

 _“Figures,”_ Kim tells herself.

…

Their moment of rest is short-lived though, as more creatures reveal themselves from all directions. Both women perk up, and equip their handguns. Shego realizes Kim has one, and Kim realizes Shego does too.

“How many bullets do you have?” Shego asks.

Kim doesn’t even check her magazine. She remembers the answer. “I’m out,” she dejectedly admits.

Shego’s eye flinches from annoyance, but she brushes it off to focus on the situation. “We’re running for it,” she tells Kim, and she grasps the door handle and prepares to do just that.

…

But Kim doesn’t.

“Can’t you hotwire this thing or something? You’ve got to have a better idea than that?”

“No time, hillbilly. I’m going with or without’cha.”

…

“Hillbilly?...” Kim un-amusingly repeats.

…

With the creatures drawing in however, she realizes running really is the only option. So she grabs her door handle, then looks to Shego. She nods at her as a signal to go, and they haul ass.

They head for an alley to the west to avoid the most creatures they can. They blitz their way through the neighborhood until the arrive in the center of a cul-de-sac, and they stop to observe their surroundings. There are no creatures forward, but they’re still being tailed from behind.

Across the way, Kim can see a house with its front door wide open. “Over there,” she calmly points out, using her other hand to touch Shego’s shoulder and get her attention.

She cringes at first, but then she dons a strange look of disbelief.

Whatever causes it, Kim disregards it for now. “Come on!” she orders.

…

Shego again breaks out of her spell to follow Kim into the house.

They realize that the creatures aren’t very fast as they hurry inside and shut the door behind them. They both look outside the pane to see the gaggle mindlessly scattering about.

“Huh,” Kim utters, pleasantly surprised. “Maybe we lost ‘em.”

…

Shego turns her attention back to the redhead. The brief touch brought back the images of Drakken and all those other people from the school, where she _thought_ she was back in Middleton, and she _thought_ maybe this had all just been some sort of bad dream.

But the more she’s thought about it, the less sure she is of just what _is_ real.

…

Kim looks to her now, seeing the conflicted look in her eyes.

“Shego?”

…

 _“That touch was real though, right?”_ Shego asks herself.

She sizes her up, taking in her adult form. _“And- her voice is real. Her face is real. She’s- She has to be… She has to be real.”_

…

“Shego?” Kim asks again, raising her brow.

…

She sickly sighs. She finds herself actually wanting to ask her if this is all actually happening. She even considers just _touching_ her again, just to feel her skin, just to know she’s actually here!

But she doesn’t.

Instead, she shakes her head and paces away from her to collect her thoughts and come up with a plan.

…

And despite her reservations, Kim disregards this too- and does the same thing.

\-----------------------

After a few moments of silent reflection, Shego speaks up.

“Do you have your phone?”

“My phone?”

“Yeah, do you have it or not?”

Kim winces to herself. It was instinct to whip out the Kimmunicator and beep Wade, her actual cell phone however had slipped her mind.

_“Jeez… I really am rusty.”_

…

Of course, she doesn’t need to let Shego know that.

“Duh. I’ve already tried that,” knowing full well that Shego will say…

“Well try it again!”

_“I really should say something snarky about being right all the time, but I need to set an example for her. Wouldn’t want her breaking bad again, after all.”_

…

So she pulls out her cell phone, and she realizes that it’s dead. “Well, as you would say, ‘fat chance.’ My phone’s fried. Shocker, I know.”

Shego un-amusingly huffs. “Start looking through drawers, under beds, anything that we can use- bullets, things like that,” she instructs. Her attitude rubs Kim the wrong way, but she refrains from starting an argument.

 _“Just deal with it for now. She’s the only help I have getting out of this place,”_ she tells herself, overlooking the fact that this isn’t wholly true.

…

Rufus pops out of her pocket, and blows raspberries at Shego. It startles her enough to fire up some of her plasma at ready an attack.

“Shego, stop!” Kim defensively shouts as she shields Rufus with her hand.

Shego realizes it was just the mole rat and not one of the creatures, and she cools down her plasma. “Jesus… I almost shot you,” she groans.

“This is gonna be a _long_ day,” Kim whines.

“Psh. You’re telling me,” Shego retorts, and they begin their search for supplies.

…

They rummage through every nook and cranny of both the living room and kitchen, peeking outside every so often to make sure no creatures have seen through their cover. Shego can’t help but focus on Rufus as he scurries through the drawers of a bureau, and it’s actually somewhat impressive. _“At least he tries to make himself useful.”_

She realizes now though that she doesn’t remember seeing the rodent without his master.

“Hey, what happened to Stoppable?” she asks Kim as she looks in the refrigerator and nabs an unopened bottle of water.

Kim hears her from the living room, and pauses. “Uhm… We got separated,” she simply says, hoping but knowing she won’t have a follow-up. She looks to Rufus, who keeps dutifully searching through the bureau, likely coping ugly by just ignoring their conversation.

…

“Where at?” Shego asks after taking another drink of water. She peers out the kitchen window as she does, not seeing any creatures.

Kim takes a moment before resuming her search and answering the question.

“…I woke up at this motel. I found Ron shortly after, and- we were in this long hallway…”

Shego anticipates the conclusion, feeling a lump form in her throat.

…

“…This thing- it was way bigger than the others, it came and cornered us outside of an elevator. I managed to get away, but…”

She recognizes the sorrow in her voice, and decides to have mercy on her.

“Okay, I got it.”

…

For a moment, both of them just stop. For Kim, the doubts resurface. _“What if he didn’t make it? What if- something happened?... It would be my fault…”_

She turns to Rufus again, and the kinks in his armor show as she stops to let out a sigh of grief.

…

For Shego, the reality sinks in that something final may have happened to him. _“Jesus… I mean, I didn’t like the guy, but… I mean, I guess I don’t want anything bad to happen to the dweeb either… And if he can get hurt by those things, then we can too…”_

She creeps over to the opening between the kitchen and living room, and looks at Kim. She actually finds herself feeling sorry for her.

Through all the battles they waged, she very rarely took life and death into consideration. It always seemed like just another one of their games or competitions. People would get hurt, sure, and maybe there would be close calls; but nobody was ever supposed to die. Not even Ron, or Kim for that matter.

_“Damn.”_

…

She forces herself to focus on the now though, and decides it’s best if she can make the other girl do the same.

“Find anything?” she asks.

…

Kim belatedly receives the message, and slightly perks up. “Huh? Oh. No, not yet. You?”

…

Shego is about to tell her “No,” but then she sees one of the creatures carelessly walking just outside the window.

“Shit!” she mutters, and she quickly crouches down behind some cabinets.

…

Kim makes her way in with Rufus in her hand. “Shego?”

She looks to her with a grave expression. “Get down!” she whispers.

Kim looks back with skepticism, but then she realizes that the creature is outside, and she hurries over to hide by Shego.

…

For a moment, they say nothing.

Then, they meet one another’s eyes.

“Uhm… I’m gonna have a look,” Kim whispers.

Before she can though, Rufus tugs at her shirt to grab her attention, conveying the message to let him do it instead.

…

Without a word, she complies, and she carefully raises him up to do so.

Even with how serious this all is, Shego can’t help but think how silly it is that they’re relying on a naked mole rat right now, and she nonchalantly rolls her eyes.

…

After a moment, Kim lowers Rufus, and widens her eyes to say: _Well?_

He shrugs. _Nothing._

…

She looks to Shego with indecision, and she meets her with the same. But finally, they decide it’s safe.

They rise up from under the cabinets, and look to see that the creature has indeed passed.

…

Shego lets out a heavy, frustrated sigh. It incites Kim to make a point.

“Shego, listen to me,” she sternly begins, and she looks back to her with folded arms and an apathetic face.

“We’ve got to stick together if we want to get through this. I need to be able to trust you, okay? And you need to trust me. Got it?”

“Fine, I trust you,” Shego carelessly responds, and she looks away.

“Shego, I’m serious,” Kim adds, not backing down in the slightest.

…

Shego looks back to her, and she can see that she really is serious. Maybe she even has a point.

“…Alright. I trust you, Kim. Seriously.”

…

Satisfied, Kim relaxes a bit, “Good,” she says. “Now, I actually did find something,” she reveals, pulling two small flashlights out of her pocket.

Rufus pops out of her other pocket, and looks crossly at her. “Mhm,” he huffs.

“Well, Rufus did,” she says with a little smile, and he smiles back before going back to hiding.

…

She offers a flashlight to Shego, but she doesn’t reach for it.

“I have my plasma. I don’t need it,” she indifferently says, and she walks past her to look back out the window.

“Oh…” Kim bemoans, putting the lights back in her pocket. Then she joins Shego’s side to look through the glass, not even really sure what she’s looking for.

…

As they quietly look out, something catches Kim’s eye.

There’s a window open at a house just a couple houses down. “Shego, look,” she says as she points it out.

She takes a moment. “…Alright. This way,” Shego says, and she begins walking to the back door. Kim follows her, and Shego looks out the pane before placing her hand on the knob.

“I’ll go first,” she says.

Kim simply nods, and waits for her to move.

…

Instead, she sighs to herself, and releases her hand from the knob. Then she walks over to Kim, and grabs the gun from her waistline. Then she holds it out to Kim.

“Trade me,” she says.

…

Kim just looks at it, then into her green eyes. “What?”

“You said you were empty. Take mine, and cover me if things go south,” she explains.

“What about you?” Kim asks.

“I’ve got my plasma,” she says- even though she knows how ineffective it is against them. “We’ll find ammo eventually and then I can stock up. Just take the damn thing and give me yours later.”

…

Kim relents and takes the gun, checking to see that the safety is on. It is.

“I won’t switch it off unless I need to,” she tells her. “Hopefully I won’t need to.”

Shego simply nods, and returns to the door.

…

She places her hand back on the knob, then looks at Kim.

“Ready?”

…

Kim meets her with poise.

“Ready.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would post longer chapters, but I think I speak for everyone when I say it sucks to read more than 3000 words on one page. Maybe some can do it, but I can’t without eventually just skimming along. So I try to keep it around 2500, 3500 tops.
> 
> So anyway, I post short chapters. My early estimate is that this will be about 25 chapters in total, maybe more. Like I’ve said, and I won’t again because I know you’re not stupid, but I have literally got this whole thing mapped out in my head and on paper. It’s just frickin’ writing it now lol.
> 
> As always, thank you very much for indulging me, and I hope you’re enjoying. I’ll be annoying and encourage you to comment and review one last time, but after that, f*** it... Joel needs a car. (If you get the reference, enjoy 1000 Whose Line is it Anyway points free of charge.)
> 
> Thanks again:)


	6. Help

The opportunity presents itself for Kim and Shego to make a straight shot for the open window.

“Now!” Shego whispers, and they quietly push the door open. They crouch down, and scurry their way over to the house. Kim makes sure to look in all directions to make sure they’re safe, and they make it unscathed.

Shego climbs in first. “Cover me,” she tells Kim. She simply nods.

She turns her attention back to the cul-de-sac, and it would appear things are copasetic.

“How’s it look?” she quietly asks Shego.

…

“It’s good, come on,” Shego answers after a moment.

She just barely turns to make her way inside when one of the creatures appears from behind the corner of the house. She quickly hides behind a trashcan, and readies the pistol Shego gave her. She looks up to the window, but doesn’t see her.

Her heart begins racing as the creature’s shadow casts just before her.

…

But then, it turns around.

She anxiously waits to see what will happen next, but it doesn’t come back,

“He’s gone,” she hears Shego say, catching her by surprise. She looks up to see her pale face looking out the window now. “Getch your ass in here,” she impatiently barks.

And Kim does.

…

Once she makes it inside, Shego carefully shuts the window and pulls the curtains inward. She turns to Kim and makes a shushing gesture, then eyes her to step into the living room. Kim follows her in.

“I think we’re safe. For now, anyway,” Shego states.

They stand in silence for a moment, and Kim checks on Rufus. He looks to her with his pitiful beady black eyes, showing her that he’s still hanging in there.

She leaves him be, and turns her attention back to Shego, who is pacing around with a thoughtful expression.

…

She turns to face Kim. “Have you seen any cars?”

“Just the truck,” she answers.

“No keys though. You don’t think Stoppable has ‘em do you?”

“He didn’t when I was with him. He didn’t say so anyway.”

“Maybe he went back to it. Keys don’t just up and start walking,” Shego quips.

“…Why?” Kim asks now.

…

Shego’s eyes widen. “Uhm- so we can get the hell out of here? Hello?”

Kim crosses her arms. “I’m not leaving until I find Ron. And don’t tell me you’ll just go out on your own because that’s not happening either. We’re getting out of this together.”

Shego cringes, but she accepts it. “Fine. I guess we’ll just keep sneaking around from house to house looking for junk we can use, and hope that those things don’t find and eat us or- whatever it is they’ll do.”

Kim _could_ nitpick about how she always acts like such a baby, but she decides to be the bigger person and offer words of encouragement instead. If not for Shego, then maybe for herself.

“Someone’s bound to come looking for us. Wade will realize something’s wrong, and he’ll send the rescue team,” she assures her.

Shego snidely chuckles. “Rescue team? First of all Kimmie, since when do _you_ need a rescue team? Second, you really think anyone’s coming? You’re Kim freakin’ Possible! They’re just gonna assume you’re being suspended above a pool of sharks or something until you escape and kick butt like you always do. They won’t send anyone.”

Kim wants to take offense, she wants to tell her that’s not true. But she can’t. She knows it _is_ true.

…

“We better wait out the monsters a bit longer. I’ll start looking for supplies,” she weakly responds.

Shego rolls her eyes. _“Monsters?”_

\-----------------------

Like the house before, they thoroughly inspects the place. Kim’s sure to check and see that all the doors and windows are locked, which actually impresses Shego a bit.

_“Maybe there was something to that trusting each other stuff. She’s smart, and I’ve never handled anything like this.”_

…

Kim similarly dwells on Shego as she and Rufus start looking under the furniture. _“How does she always stay so cool? I mean, I saw some pretty gnarly stuff. What about her?...”_

She watches her go through some drawers in a desk out of the corner of her eye. _“She looks… Sad… Has she always looked so sad? Maybe. Or maybe she just doesn’t care about any of this. Maybe she just really wishes I would’ve left her alone.”_

_“And maybe I should have…”_

…

“Hey- uh… What happened to you? After we were attacked, I mean,” she asks, hoping to read her out better.

“…What do you mean?” Shego belatedly responds.

“I woke up at the motel. What about you?”

…

She thinks back to the school: the strange pale figure, those people he saw, Drakken… _“Was it even real?”_

“I just woke up,” she tells her. “I ended up in the truck, and yeah.”

“Did you see anyone?” Kim follows up.

…

As she considers what to say next, be it the truth or another lie, a thumping sound reveals itself.

Shego notices it first, then Kim. She walks over to her with Rufus, “Do you hear that?”

She makes another shushing gesture, and they pay close attention. It sounds like it’s coming from upstairs.

It continues. “Follow me,” Shego instructs. They sneak their way over to the stairwell, and begin ascending it. As they do, they begin to hear shouting.

*You stupid bitch! How many times do I have to tell you-*

*Stop it! That’s enough!*

…

Kim quietly expresses her amazement, and Shego raises her hands, ready to fire up her plasma if need be.

As they make it up top, the shouting stops, but the thumping persists. There are three doors in the corridor. They creep to the one on their left, and open it. It’s just a restroom, nothing interesting. They leave it and head to the room at the farthest end. Shego approaches it first, gesturing to Kim that she’s ready. Kim readies her pistol, and Shego places her hand on the knob. She slowly turns it, and then gently shoves the door open.

…

There is no one inside, and they realize that the thumping has now stopped.

It appears to be a child’s bedroom. There are nesting dolls lined up on a shelf, and some stuffed animals on a small table in the corner. There’s a large mirror hung up on the wall parallel to the door, nearly covering the entire wall. There’s also a broken lamp on the top of a tiny dresser, and one of its drawers are missing.

Kim turns to look at Shego. “Something bad happened here,” she speculates.

…

They leave this room, and walk toward the final unopened door. Kim opens it as Shego follows her in.

It’s another bedroom. There is a crucifix hung up above the headboard of the bed. There’s a handheld two-way radio on another small dresser, and it’s signal dial is fidgeting. Shego goes to take a look at it, and as she does, Kim steps back out into the hallway.

…

…

She sees the reflection of a little raven-haired girl with pigtails through the large mirror.

…

She hastily turns to look behind her, but the girl is gone. She turns back, and her reflection has disappeared.

She starts trudging down the corridor to find her. Shego steps out of the bedroom after tinkering with the radio, and goes after her. “What are you doing?” she asks, baffled.

“I saw a girl,” Kim tells her.

“You what?” Shego doubtfully responds.

“I saw a girl!” she almost imploringly repeats.

…

“What are you talking about? Where?”

“Over there!” she cries, pointing toward the mirror. “I saw her in the mirror, but when I turned around…”

She hesitates. “She was gone…”

…

…

*Help.*

…

They hear a voice coming from the radio. Shego rushes toward it, as Kim stands there, dumbfounded.

_“I saw her… I know I did…”_

…

Regardless, she follows Shego to the radio. Shego grabs it from the bedroom and listens carefully.

…

*If anyone can hear me, I’m at the Miller-Williams Hospital. There are these- _people_ trying to kill me.*

“Wait a minute,” Kim utters.

*Anyone? Hello?*

…

Kim dons a conflicted, puzzled expression, and Shego raises her brow.

“What?”

“I know that voice,” Kim answers, and she shushes Shego before she can follow up.

…

But they stop. Whoever it was is gone.

…

“Who is it?” Shego asks.

“I don’t know. It’s not Ron, but I’ve heard that voice before. I just can’t- I’m not sure.”

“…Well say something?” Shego suggests, handing the radio to Kim.

…

She takes it, and squeezes the transmit button. “Hello? Hello? This is Kim Possible, can you hear me?”

Nothing.

“…This is Kim Possible. Can anyone hear me? Please respond.”

Again, nothing.

…

Shego and Kim share a confused gaze, and then the voice starts speaking again.

*I can hear them. They’re coming for me! Somebody, anybody, please help me!*

The feed begins to disrupt.

…

“Hey! HEY!” Kim shouts into the radio.

…

A chill shivers down Shego’s spine. She steps out of the room to have a look around, but there’s nothing different.

_“Huh… Weird…”_

…

She steps back in, and Kim is violently trying to get the radio to work.

“This stupid thing must be broken,” she claims.

“…There’s still a signal, let me see it,” Shego requests. She methodically turns the channel dial, and the signal becomes a little clearer. “Hey,” she tries, “Are you there? Hello?…”

…

…

*AHHHHHH!*

The instant she released the button, a loud, distressed scream came from the other end.

…

Shego impulsively drops the radio.

“What the hell was that?” expresses Kim.

Shego wears a frightened expression before finally responding. “Let’s get out of here,” she simply says.

…

 She tries to walk past Kim, but she grabs her shoulder and stops her.

“Hey! We’ve got to go after him!” Kim asserts.

…

Between this creepy house, the scream from the radio, and Kim’s sudden physical contact _again;_ she feels flustered.

 

“We’ll figure it out, let’s just get out of here,” she responds, not even really thinking about it.

…

As she turns to walk away, Kim just stands there watching her, stunned.

 _“What the hell was that about?”_ she wonders, and Rufus pops out of her pocket to meet her with wide-eyed bewilderment, as if he knows what she’s thinking.

\-----------------------

They make their way downstairs. They each glance out every windowpane, checking to see if the creatures have moved on. “See anything?” Shego asks Kim.

“No, but they could still be out there.”

Shego thinks back to the gas station she came to before entering the neighborhood. “Alright, I have an idea,” she begins, “There’s this gas station down on Main Street. I was going to stop in before I ended up here. The owner probably kept a gun somewhere, and maybe they have a landline we can use.”

“What about the guy at the hospital?” Kim brings back up, somewhat frustrated.

“We’ll head to the gas station first. We have to start thinking of how we’re going to get out of here,” Shego explains. “I don’t know that we’ll find anything there, but it’s worth a try,” she reiterates, seeing that Kim is becoming restless.

…

“Shego-” she begins, but she’s cut off.

“Kim- look, I get it, okay? You wanna help this guy. But it may not be so easy. You don’t have your hair dryer grappling gun and nerdlinger computer guy at your beck and call this time.”

“That doesn’t matter!”

“It _does_ matter.” She sighs, and she face palms. _“If_ we go check it out, and that’s a strong _if;_ then we need to be prepared. The gas station-”

“He could be hurt, Shego! The more time we waste the less we have to help.”

…

Seeing how attached she is to this idea of going straight to the hospital, Shego realizes she has to break past her appeal to reason. She has to appeal to her _emotion._

“And what if he’s dead, Kim? What if we show up there, he’s dead, and we get our asses cooked by the ‘living dead’ out there, huh? After everything we’ve been through, you want that to be the last chapter of our story?”

Kim says nothing. She just stiffly looks past Shego as she heavily breathes through her nostrils.

Then Shego sees Rufus timidly peek his head out of her pocket, and he briefly meets eyes with him, prompting her to say the following.

…

“And what about Ron?”

“What about him?” Kim crossly retorts.

“…What about finding him? It’s possible he got the same idea I did and went to the gas station too. Even if he didn’t- we find a phone, we call somebody, we get help for him, us, _and_ the guy from the radio.”

…

Kim lets out a conflicted sigh as she runs her fingers through her hair.

Shego realizes she’s getting somewhere, but she doesn’t feel very happy about it. _Good,_ maybe, like glad to have her understanding… But not happy. Not to put her through this on top of everything else.

…

“We gotta do this first Kim. We just gotta,” she finishes, forgetting all the usual childish games they always play.

…

For a moment, Kim just stands there with her eyes to the ground.

But finally, she looks up, and sighs.

“…Well then we should probably get going.”

…

Shego just looks at her for a moment, but she doesn’t look back. Then she meets eyes with Rufus again, and he just coyly makes his way back into his hiding place.

With that out of the way, she glances out the pane of the front door, double-checking to see if there are any “monsters.” All clear.

She hesitates to grab the door handle though, as she thinks about whether or not she should say something- anything else to make Kim see this is the right thing to do.

_“Your friend probably isn’t dead… That guy probably isn’t dead, I shouldn’t have said that… We still have a mission to do. Gotta find Dr. D and cheerleader girl… No, I’m not insane. That stuff at the school was just a bad dream… Trust me Kim, I know what I’m doing.”_

…

But it all seems pointless. What does it matter? She got Kim to agree with her, so really, why does she even care?

So she gently opens the door, and they both step outside. There still doesn’t appear to be any monsters lurking about, so they make their way down the road.

…

_“Yeah, I know what I’m doing…”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m man enough to admit my descriptive/narrative text isn’t as strong as my dialogue. However, the only way to get better is to work on it and get more practice.
> 
> Uhm, other than that, I really don’t have much to say yet. This is definitely a slow burner if you haven’t noticed, but hopefully your patience will be rewarded sooner than later.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and please stay tuned for more:)
> 
>  


	7. Good Silence

Kim and Shego arrive at the road where she began following the “pedestrian.” They’ve remained silent the whole way, deep in thought over everything that’s happened over the last few hours.

For the former, it’s finding out if Ron is safe. _“He would’ve kept screaming,”_ she tells herself, replaying the image of the elevator doors shutting him out from her. _“Maybe he got a good shot at that thing. Maybe he was able to get around it.”_

She thinks about the troubled civilian they heard over the radio. She thinks to herself, _“He probably won’t leave the hospital. Maybe he’s found somewhere safe to hide. We’ll find him, then we’ll go after Ron- if we don’t catch him first.”_

She thinks back to the girl she saw- thought she saw, back at that house. _“I swear I saw her, but, with everything that’s happened, I’m not sure what to think about it. Maybe there’s something in the air. Maybe I’m just losing it…”_

…

Shego on the other hand, is solely focused on survival. She’s given up thinking that anyone else is left in town. _“I don’t want to upset Kim, but, she said it herself; Ron got stuck with one of those things.”_

She then ponders over the civilian. _“What if it’s some kind of trap? It could’ve been- I don’t even know, whatever that was back at the school. Those people… That woman…”_

...

They begin heading downhill towards the gas station- “Emmy’s” apparently. As they cautiously approach it, the clamoring of more monsters becomes evident. Shego makes a shushing gesture at Kim, and she nods. They painstakingly sneak towards the building, discovering that a pack of them is lurking around the area. They come to the side of the gas station parking lot and a large dumpster.

They take cover behind it, and Shego accidentally bumps against the bin, catching the attention of a nearby creature. They hastily search for some way to deter it, and others, from them.

Kim notices a glass bottle underneath the dumpster. Fortunately, it’s within reach, and she doesn’t waste any time going for it. She’s able to grab it, and she tosses it as far as she can throw, minding her current position. The bottle shatters a few yards away, and the creature growls. She peeks over the corner of the dumpster, and it and some of the monsters have taken the bait.

Shego just lets out an amused little “hmph,” and with that, they sneak into the gas station through the front door.

 -----------------------

Laying low, Shego makes her way to the counter, and Kim hides behind a shelf. Shego makes it over undetected, and checks for a gun. There’s an emergency alert button underneath, but nothing else.

She doesn’t give up though, and heads into the back of the store. There’s a small desk with an old computer on it, and a mini fridge to the side. There’s a coat rack, with one brown leather jacket left behind. She digs through some of the clutter, and she finds a bible- an old and new testaments edition.

“Unbelievable,” she utters as she opens it, and finds that it has been hollowed out to make room for a 9mm handgun.

…

She creeps back into the atrium of the store, where Kim is still hiding behind a shelf. Shego lightly taps on the counter to get her attention. She looks over, and she motions her to come over.

“Find anything?” Kim whispers.

She shows her the gun. “Assholes had it hidden in a bible. I knew this was a bad neighborhood, but…” she quips.

…

They turn their attention back to the matter at hand. Kim pokes her head out from behind the shelf to take a look outside, where the monsters continue mindlessly wandering about.

Shego watches from behind the counter, then removes the clip from the gun she found. It is fully loaded- ten rounds. She feels shameful in placing the clip back inside, _“This is ridiculous. I’m the most dangerous woman in the world- even without my powers!... And here I am with a friggin’ gun…”_

…

As she does this, Kim keeps her focus on the perimeter of the building. Despite the numbers, none of the monsters walk together, and they seem truly nebulous- like they’re incapable of instrumental conscious thought. _“What are these things?”_

Even so, she knows they are dangerous, and it seems like more and more arrive on the scene with the passing minutes.

Until the monsters leave, they’re stuck here.

She looks over to Shego, who meets her with a restless frown. She realizes this too.

…

A peculiar, _gurgling_ sound becomes audible. Shego hears it, and she perks up- readying her fists.

“What was that?!” she neurotically blurts out.

…

Kim lethargically looks into her coat pocket. Poor Rufus rubs his tummy as it growls.

“It was Rufus,” she answers. “He’s hungry.”

…

With that, he hops out of her pocket and begins browsing the shelves. Shego raises an eyebrow as she looks to Kim, and she looks back to her with a nervous little smile and shrug.

Shego simply shrugs back. “I could go for a snack,” she says, and she starts looking around for some food too.

Kim just alternates between watching her and Rufus browse through the Slim Jims and Mister Bee’s _tater_ chips, and helplessly observing the curious entities outside. As unfortunate as it is for her- and in turn, Ron, the civilian at the hospital, and Bonnie Rockwaller…

She can do nothing.

…

She lets out a heavy sigh, and deflates as she practically slides her butt down to the cold floor.

…

“That was smart thinking back there with the bottle,” Shego tells her after picking up a bag of pepperoni rolls and disgustedly putting it back. She just barely looks to her former rival out of the corner of her eye, enough to acknowledge her- not enough to make it seem like a _friendly gesture._

…

“Thanks,” Kim almost thoughtlessly utters. She realizes that Shego actually just _complimented_ her, but with everything going on, it hardly makes an impact.

“You probably don’t need that other pistol anymore… Unless you just feel like carrying the extra weight,” the former villainess adds with a careless drawl.

Kim says nothing, and just removes the other pistol from her jacket pocket. She eyes it for a moment with discontent, then carefully lies it down on the ground.

…

“Where’d you learn to shoot?” Shego asks her now, maintaining the same level of composure.

“I’ve never actually shot a real gun before,” Kim reveals, “I’ve shot like, EMP lasers and stuff, and I’ve played some videogames…” she adds.

_“…With Ron.”_

…

Shego chuckles, “Pffft… _Videya Games…”_ she quips while mockingly shaking her hands.

…

While Rufus complacently finds some Doritos to snack on, the women become tensely silent. For Kim, there’s all these lingering thoughts about Ron, and the hospital caller, and Bonnie, and the monsters, and how _the hell_ it all ties together.

But- she can’t help becoming a little curious. _“Why is Shego acting so weird? One minute she’s being her snarky self, and then she’s freaking out like she knows something I don’t…”_

_“And what’s her deal right now?- Patting me on the back about stuff?... Is she just trying to feel me out, or is she really trying to be nice? Should I ask her?...”_

…

For Shego, it’s desperately trying to focus on freaking Pizza Lunchables, and _not_ everything else.

It just can’t be done in awkward silence though, so she forces herself to think of _something_ to talk about; just to be sure she’s not alone. Just to be sure Kim Possible is really here with her.

…

“…So, what’s the deal with this Bonnie girl?” she asks Kim, slightly choking on her words mid-sentence.

Kim doesn’t answer. She looks to the raven-haired woman with blatant suspicion in her eyes, carefully considering just how to answer- carefully considering just _why_ Shego would ask about Bonnie.

Reluctantly- conflicted about having to actually _look_ at Kim as she talks to her, Shego turns around and finally faces her. She wears this awkward, sickly expression, almost like she’s worried she may have said the wrong thing.

“I mean, I get she’s a big shot’s daughter; but what’s your story with her? Why would you come out of retirement to come after her?”

…

Seeing Kim’s questionable glower, she realizes that the girl is about to start busting her chops, and she quickly thinks of a smooth recovery.

“I’m just asking… We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” she adds, turning back towards the culinary options.

 _“I’m not gonna make it here…”_ she thinks to herself.

…

Kim relaxes a bit, and finds herself looking over to Rufus. The naked mole rat looks back with his cheeks full of Nacho Cheese, and simply shrugs.

_“Lighten up, Kim!... You’re not gonna make it through this if you don’t get it together! Shego’s not your enemy here!... She’s… All I have…”_

…

She takes a heavy breath. “Uhm… She was, _not my friend_ in high school. We actually pretty much hated each other…”

Shego relaxes just a bit too. She slowly turns back around. “So… Why help her then?”

…

Kim winces as she thinks it over. “I mean, like I said before… It’s kind of my responsibility. If Drakken’s involved, I should’ve been prepared for it.”

“And if Drakken’s not involved?” Shego follows up.

“…Then, I guess I just feel bad. She’s… not a bad person. Maybe a bitch,” she says with a little smirk, “…but she’s not bad. I just want to help her. Maybe so I can feel better about myself a little- like I’m _the bigger person…_ But I just wanna help her. Maybe she needs someone like me to come along…”

…

For a moment, Shego is stunned. It was almost like she was talking about _her._

Growing wide-eyed and feeling this quick burst of energy in her beating heart, she can’t help but look to Kim now.

And, Kim feels compelled to look up to her too. When she does, she sees that conflicted- too much going on at once, look, and it makes her heart race just a little too.

_“Are we… Having a moment?”_

…

…

The first few seconds seem like forever, but then they feel hurried and just _weird._ It’s Shego to break it off and look to the side first, and Kim does too not long after.

…

Shego clears her throat. “Nmm… I uh, saw a fridge back there… I’ma go check it out real quick. Gotta be something better than all this junk.”

“Uh, yeah,” Kim simply gets out, trying to ease herself of this childlike trepidation with the slowing of breaths.

…

She hears the sound of the fridge door being slammed shut not long after, and Shego returns with a lunch pale.

She looks inside and contently nods.

To Kim’s surprise, she comes over, and takes a seat close to her. Not quite beside her- she leaves a comfortable amount of space, but still close.

She hesitantly glances back and forth at Kim and the contents of the pale, and takes out a sandwich in a baggie. She splits in half, and offers one to her.

“Uhh… here…” she says, looking at her offering, and not Kim’s eyes.

…

It belatedly registers for her, but she gets with the program and reaches her hand out to take it.

“Uh… Thanks…” she says, trying to sound glad.

…

She can’t help but check under the top slice of bread to see what kind of sandwich it is. It’s turkey and ham, _“Thank god,” …_ but with pickles _. “Bleck…”_

She looks back up to Shego to see her pulling something else out of the pale: an orange sliced up into fours. Again, she decides to share, but with a little less slow awkwardness and a little more hurried awkwardness.

“Here…”

“Thanks…”

…

Even though she’s starving, and the circumstances are grim; Kim is _not_ eating pickles. Fat chance, as Shego would say.

So she takes them off. “Uh, you want these?” she asks Shego, who meets her with a face that makes her feel a little bit foolish, then just patronized.

“Uh, no thanks,” Shego responds, and Rufus takes it upon himself to scurry over and take them for himself.

He actually smiles as he chows them down, and it helps Kim feel just a little better. She cracks a little smile too.

…

And for whatever reason, be it the silliness she associates with the naked _rodent,_ or getting some food in her belly, or just something about smiles being contagious; Shego relaxes a little too.

She doesn’t _smile,_ no way. But, it feels good.

...

Then, the silence returns. It’s isn’t so bad this time. In fact, it’s kind of nice- for both of them. It gives them a chance to just take a breather and not worry so much about the monsters and everything else screwed up going on in the so-called “Happiest Place on Earth.”

…

Kim finishes her sandwich half, and then systematically removes the peels from her orange slices as she eats them- so prim and proper like.

And, _“Shit,”_ …Shego has to smile at that. She just amusingly stares until Kim notices.

…

“What?”

“Nothing,” Shego says, gnawing the fruit right off the peel.

“You get the whole orange this way,” Kim defends.

“I didn’t say anything.”

…

“Well, you eat like an animal,” Kim playfully retorts.

…

And Shego really wants to formulate some more witty banter, she really does. But something about Kim’s delivery just makes it, _“Shiiiit,”_ …impossible, and she has to laugh. Just a little bit though.

…

It pleasantly surprises Kim. She’s only seen her laugh like this under the influence of the attudinator, and that was forever ago. On top of that, things are so the drama right now, and, well… _“It’s Shego?!...”_

…

But… she has to laugh too… Just a little.

So they share their small laugh, and finish their meal in continued silence.

It’s a good silence though.

\-----------------------

It feels like hours. It gets to the point that the two of them, and little Rufus, have to just lie down. Kim took her jacket off to rest her head on the floor, which gave Shego the idea to snag the brown jacket from the back room and do the same.

Not much is said outside of simple “What are you doing’s?” and basic answers. Even with the… _moment…_ There’s still not much either one has to say to the other. Kim Possible is still Kim Possible, and Shego is still Shego.

And even without Ron, Rufus is still Rufus. His bloated ass is fast asleep under Kim’s bosom.

…

More reflection… Kim thinks about Ron, Shego about the school. Kim about Bonnie, Shego about Drakken. Kim about the civilian at the hospital, Shego about the gun in her waistline. Kim about the girl she thinks she saw, Shego about the woman she _knows_ she did…

And both of them wonder, _“Is this really happening?”_

…

…

Suddenly, the loud tolling of a bell becomes audible from somewhere in the distance.

_GONG! GONG! GONG! GONG!_

The women jolt up, and so does Rufus- despite the rude awakening.

They watch through the glass of the building as the monsters outside all stop they’re mindless wandering, and then flock to the direction of the bell.

…

Just like that, they’re all gone.

…

Kim looks to Shego, and Shego looks to Kim.

“What the hell was that?” she says first.

Kim looks out the glass again, looking for assurance that this really just happened.

It did.

…

Epiphanically- it all comes back to her. She has a mission to do, and she has to help Ron and the others.

She doesn’t even respond to Shego. She just hurries herself off the floor and scoops Rufus up as she puts her jacket back on.

Shego just watches, failing to pick up on the same sense of urgency.

And Kim picks up on _that._

…

She looks at Shego with an impatient look in her eyes. “Shego?! Let’s go!”

…

It finally registers for her, and she follows Kim’s example, albeit a little less enthusiastically. “Okay, chill Kimmie. Don’t pop a blood vessel,” she quips.

Kim makes her way to the doors, and takes one last considerate look around. All clear.

Shego catches up, and meets her eyes as she looks back to her.

…

Then, it’s like time freezes. For whatever reason, she remembers all the students passing her by in the halls of the high school, all ignoring her and casually moving along like she didn’t exist. Then there was Drakken- or, what she _thought_ was Drakken, but how can she be sure? She couldn’t _ask_ him. She couldn’t _feel_ him. She couldn’t _trust_ him…

But Kim…

…

She sees Shego’s sudden change in demeanor. It was something she could disregard before with all the excitement going on, but now- now she has to do something about it. She can’t afford her to jeopardize the mission.

…

“Shego, what’s wrong? Tell me.” She says it assertively, but also in a tone that also shows genuine consideration.  

And Shego can’t fight it, even if she wanted to. With the sudden panic and the even more sudden acknowledgment from Kim, she has to come clean.

…

“I don’t know what’s real anymore, Kim…” she begins.

Kim feels herself deflate a bit, empathetically taking in the sorrowful energy resonating from her. She just gives her her undivided attention as she continues.

“When I woke up- after the- _monsters_ attacked… I was in Middleton. I was at the high school. Only, I wasn’t there. I was just here, in Happy Valley… But I saw all these people, I saw Drakken…”

“You saw Drakken?” Kim interrupts.

“I don’t know, Kim!... I don’t know if it was him or not!...”

…

She sighs with defeat. “It felt so wrong… Like a bad dream or something. I just- I feel so confused… It hurts Kim. I don’t know what’s happening to me…”

…

She let it all out so fast, but it’s so slow to digest for her. She’s never seen Shego like this, _ever._ Vulnerable, _weak_ even…

More importantly, her sincerity appeals to Kim’s good nature. When she’s needed, she’s needed. And right now, yeah- she’s needed.

…

Timidly, she forms a response.

“Shego… That’s- that’s awful. I’m sorry…”

…

Shego looks up to her, meeting her emerald eyes. It’s the first time she’s really noticed just what shade of green they are, and that she’s got this tiny brown spot in the bottom of her iris.

It’s comforting- this look… Those eyes… It almost seems real.

…

But it’s not enough. She just needs _something more._

Slowly, carefully, she raises her right hand.

Kim tenses up a bit as it begins drawing near her; but there’s no plasma, and she still has that weak, desperate look on her face.

Whatever she’s doing, she needs to just let her.

…

Finally, Shego rests her hand on Kim’s cheek. It’s warm.

She closes her eyes and she takes in a deep breath. She’s real. This is real. She’s here with Kim Possible in Emmy’s gas station, breathing in and breathing out, still alive after everything, still herself after everything…

But she has her hand on Kim’s cheek.

…

She snaps out of her stupor and quickly draws her hand back. Kim just incredulously watches on as she conflictedly closes her eyes and cringes to herself, then forces a relaxing breath and eases her stance.

She opens her eyes, and looks skyward. “I’m… sorry…”

…

For a moment, they just stand there- Shego feeling like some damn embarrassed fool, Kim unsure how to take it all in, Rufus worrying that something really bad is about to happen.

…

But, it doesn’t.

Shego just deflates as she hangs her head low. She focuses her pupils on Kim, she just doesn’t _look_ at her.

“Uhm… We should- probably get going… See what that was all about…”

…

And while she wants to ask _a lot_ of questions about what Shego just did, she knows that there’s still work to be done, and she knows that time isn’t on their side.

So, she settles for the following response.

“Yeah… Uhm, are you gonna be good, Shego?” she asks. Again, she’s poised with her wording, but lenient enough to show that there’s sincerity there. She _cares_ about Shego.

Well, at least her well-being, anyway.

…

“I’m fine- Kim. I just-”

She takes a moment as she tries to find the right words.

And yeah, she finds them.

…

“This fuckin’ town…”

…

Kim just looks at her as she briefly glances into her eyes again, but she pulls away.

It’s definitely something she knows she’ll have to explore further, but now isn’t the time.

Now’s the time for action.

…

…

She finally makes her way out the door.

_“Huh… Her hand’s a lot softer than I thought it would be.”_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops… Dropped an F Bomb. Oh well. I’ll try not to make a habit of it, but if I feel like the best word to use in a sitch is you-know-what, then I’ma use it. I’d like to keep this at a T rating… Unless I’m tempted by others to push the boundaries;p
> 
> So yeah, sorry if I’ve tainted your innocence. Go read some scriptures or something to atone.
> 
> In all seriousness, thanks for reading, and thanks for being patient with me. I know I said this was gonna be a slow burner, but now it’s looking like we gotta let the oven preheat for a few hours before we even get cooking. But at least you got some very subtle KiGo thereXD
> 
> Okay, shuddup Pillow Man you’re not funny. Fair enough. Thanks again, and please stay tuned for more.


	8. Bad News (Update)

Hey guys, this isn’t an actual chapter addition, but really just an update. A bad one, in case the title wasn’t a good enough indication.

The sad truth is my heart really just isn’t into this story anymore. It’s something I was excited about at first, because I was getting back into KP and wanted to really try and spark interest in this idea I’ve been toying with for a while. As I’ve said, it was a concept I intended for an original novel, but I got burnt out on writing it because of life getting in the way- both good and bad parts of it.

Unfortunately, I’m going through the same burning out again. As quickly as I was sucked back into the KP fandom, and my love of the survival horror genre, I’m falling back out.

A lot of it has to do with me being a full time college student and the everyday struggle, but also just being a lot more interested in finishing my Loud House story, “Carol Likes Luna.” So, as shitty as it sounds, Kim and Shego just aren’t high enough on the priority list right now to keep this up:(

…

So, to make an official statement, as a curtesy to all of you who have graciously indulged me to this point, **I will be putting this story on hiatus indefinitely.**

I know this sucks, believe me, I really hate to leave this unfinished. My all-time favorite fan fic “Saving Victoria Chase (Over and Over Again)” was one chapter away from being finished before the author stopped updating, so I know what it’s like to feel this disappointment. Add this to the fact I’ve never not finished a story, and now I have an ugly blemish on my resume.

…

Again, I’m sorry to do this, and I thank you guys for following me to this shitty stopping point.

If you really are curious to know how it would’ve ended or whatever, because I seriously doubt I pick this back up, and if I do, it will be a _long_ while; feel free to PM me on FFN and I’ll answer questions you may have. Just don’t ask me to reconsider, because as Grandma always said, “If you have to force a fart, it’s probably shit.”

I think that’s probably the best way to let this end, a fart joke;p

…

Seriously though, thanks again guys, and be well.

-JamesSunderlandsPillow


End file.
